The mosquito is a great boat, especially in terms of budget, here a mast(blank) is about $240, wing mast on the other hand $1000. Beams for mossie (guessing $100) Beams for taipan $425. Its the things like that, that really start to bring the price down. Things like the daggers and rudders are the same, sail is a bit cheaper because of the size. But a set of hulls for a mosquito over here, could be homebuilt for around $1200-$1400 painted (rough guess)

Regards

I guess when I move up to Mich I will have long winters to build something like that. I will just have to get over my "half-assed" work ethic! But I wouldn't have a problem, after dealing with my boat for a couple years, doing fitting out stuff etc.

One of our members is moving to the US soon, and is taking his boat with him, so there will be ONE Mosquito in the US ! Not sure where he`s headed, but I can find out.
You`ll notice it easily, looks like a very small Tornado.
Of course the US is not the smallest place... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

What is done with the mosquito can be done with each cat design, the key point however is to have a very dedicated class organisation that actually buys and stocks these parts. Also it takes alot of organisation skills to pull off a group purchase. It is my experience that most sailors do want the cost reduction but don't want to invest in getting that done. The mosquito class is one of the very few exceptions that seems to have the class member willingness to organise themselfs to such an extend.

With respect to Mattaipans example. Just get two anodised 80x2 alu tubes and use these as beams. You'll will end up with a noticeable stiffer platform for the same investment as the Mossie beams. Alot of costs savings can be that easy if it were not for the class rules forcing you to have a particular set of beams that only the builder can supply.

A good example to show how easy it is to spend money on a cat is to look at the sails. We all want a good set of sails by a renowned sailmaker. Mainsail 1500 bucks, jib 500 bucks, spinnaker 850 bucks = total 2850 bucks and already 25 % of a new boat. I have yet to find a capable sailmaker willing to provide a suit of pentex racing sails for less. And customers don't seem to want any less.

Wouter