Is that it then?

Originally posted by Grumpycat Originally posted by turnturtle Originally posted by H2 the cost of depreciation is around £500 per year which is pretty good. that's exceptional - I always banked on £1000 per annum, it could easily be worse. Evening TT . Well you have always been the forums expert on depreciation

Not the only thing he was expert at...

Many established classes started out with a lot less than 25 boats and usually can trace their heritage back to one or two clubs, so I think there is a difference between local viability and national critical mass.  Given how varied conditions are across the nation, it could well be that a modular design, allowing open rig/sail/foil choices would be better than trying to start a new OD class?

For example inland owners may prefer deeper foils and higher rigs, whereas sea sailors may prefer centre-boards and lower aspect sails.

Not sure what the minimum number of boats for a fleet is - I purchased the 15th H2 to be built and we seemed to get to around 25 or 30 boats shortly thereafter. That was enough for 18 boats at the nationals and some good opens as well as plenty of chatter on the association FB page between owners. Then Brexit and COVID came along and things really slowed down. I recall chatting to a friend who expressed that it was a make or break time for the class so I was relieved when lockdown ended and the orders started to flow in. Last weekend the 50th boat was launched and the order book is full for the year ahead. Interestingly the boats sell within a few days when they come up and the cost of depreciation is around £500 per year which is pretty good. As one of the last "new" classes I hope this info helps in the discussion?

Originally posted by 423zero Never going to be like automobile manufacturing, changing models every ten years, old models usually gone in the next ten years, that's what griff the salesman wants, you can read into what happened with windsurfing, new model, new model, shame the owners into a new board every couple of years,what board do you have, WHAT, that's so last year.

If quality of racing is what is important to you, then there are a few classes where the depth of competition is probably as good as it has ever been, this is aided and abetted by the aging demographic.