Classes fading in popularity

What a good airing - I'll pat myself on ther back for introducing the subject.  I'll return to some of the points later but I'd like to mention technology.  I sail a Laser 4000 and love it for its power but this is a class which I feel will fade because it's performance has been provided by technology and the technology is begining to look old. 

I aplaud the Blaze class they seem to have managed a difficult transition well.  They have effectively moved from being a class controlled by a manufacturer to a class managed by the members and in the process they have managed to update their design without alienating too many.  Now they have a unique and attractive boat which will persist for some time. 

There are a few other classes which seem to be going the same way, Contenders, Phantoms and Dutchmen with their carbon masts.  Having sailed a 800 I can tell you a carbon mast is the way to go, especially with the bigger faster, boats.

As an aside I must say it's a shame about the EPS, its a very nice boat to sail.

Which SMOD's are seeing less than 15 new boats per year?

And how do we know the truth; Laser, RS and Topper have all padded their sail numbers to mislead the market; IMHO.

I spoke to the manufacture of a single sourced component for a SMOD design who stated that he'd sold less than half the items needed to match the claims of the manufacture.

Perhaps this is where Y&Y or the RYA could help by properly auditing sail numbers to protect the sailing public from this bogus practice.

The Y&Y Racing Classes Review sort of does this but some classes don't provide complete forms so their are no new boat figures - perhaps they should only print COMPLETE submissions that can be verified.

Y&Y should have more journalistic teeth; the do have a near monopoly on the dinghy media so shouldn't be too scared of the impact on their advertising sales.

Rick

PS: Before you ask I am not going to name any names or classes on the above statement.

Back just after the war Fairey Marine became the 1st builder in the modern era of SMODs, with the Firefly and others. When they ceased production in the early 70's, the Firefly had a really difficult time of things, with very few boats being built for the next 20 years. Thanks to the strength of the class association, and the longevity of the hulls, the class survived. The class now has a builder who builds good boats again (Rondar) and suddenly an almost 60 year old boat is out selling most of the modern SMODs.

So don't write off SMODs too soon. If the design is good, and the boat appeals enough to people to make them want to fight for the class, then they will be able to overcome such things as builders marketing budgets running out. Judging which will survive and which will die, however, is beyond me. Some great designs of the 60's and 70's have vanished, yet some really nasty ones have sold thousands and are still going strong, so I'd hate to say what will happen in the future!