Nice new Laser for Christmas

It's true I learned to sail in something designed when there were 4 reliable mail deliveries per day. Perhaps this is why my dinghy is never as flat as I know it should be. And Grumph would love a go in a Troy I'm sure, even though these Red Lasers are about as one-design in practice as these hand built beauties (allegedly) 

I dunno, I think it's far easier today.  As someone I truly respect said to me the other day, people buy into a boat because of those whom they can sail it against as much as the boat itself.  

Having been an early adopter in two new classes since the advent of the internet, we now have the benefit of being able to build class community up before anyone even sets foot in their boat for the first time.  I lost count of the number of people at Parkstone (RS100 first nationals) who said they felt like they all knew each other, yet hadn't ever met physically before.

I'd imagine there was a similar vibe at Grafham with the D-Zeros - not that I was there to witness it unfortunately.  But I can assure you it's infectious and a wholly pleasant experience.  The Aeros will have this too no doubt. 

Think also about the practicalities and costs.....

Print journalism is really downtrending, so ad revenues will naturally fall.  This means it costs less to get your message out there.  Or at the very least you can use other channels for a more targeted approach with a better ROI.  There's a reason RS are no longer current advertisers in the printed Y&Y magazine, but happy to banner sponsor sailing anarchy.

You can launch a new class on a relatively shoe-string budget if you engage a social network.  Sufficient quality footage can be obtained with an iPhone and a digital camera to provide some basic marketing collateral- hopefully enough to interest someone in a test sail anyway.  A website can be produced, to an almost professional grade standard, for free, if you engage with active volunteers early on.  And if you can build a community of early-adopters, they are people who provide content and sell word of mouth on your behalf- except these days word of mouth includes their Facebook account, twitter feed, text message and well as club bars and changing rooms.  I'm not pretending it's easy, or indeed without hassle and aggravation and frustration, but the option is there now, whereas 15 years ago you needed to be a Laser, Topper or a very edgy, seat of your pants 'RS' to even consider launching a new performance dinghy.  

You could argue that too much of a professional approach isn't actually what's needed, not here anyway.   (The US market is grossly different I'm sure).   I'm one for accusing bigger budget producers for over-hyping sailing products, but really, are they any worse than amy other bigger brand-orientated outfit?  And it's not like it hasn't gone on for some time- it's good to know Jim and his cohorts were ribbing 'L5Kfanboy' back in the 90's on compuserve.  Good effort     When a company becomes a brand, and a general ethos become 'core values', then a customer base will soon become a client base; things change for good or bad or indifferent reasons.... subtle nuances, but a transition we're seeing play out with RS to a level today.  I hope they see this thread as a glimpse of a potential future.... because Sailboats and LaserPerformance really don't come out too nicely from it.  Few here would want to see RS actually fail, but there's certainly a fair few who would pop the cork if LPE went bust and a new builder / licence holder was appointed for Bruce's baby.

But at least the Aero won't be the Aero GS next autumn, replaced the Aero GST the autumn after.  (I guess I've always admired sailing as a sanctuary away from 'real world' consumerism, and a chat with Dan, Rodney, the guys from HD sails, Dave at Winder boats, Tom @ P&B, and Riki or Demo etc has me far more engaged than a bullet pointed list of unique selling points)  

 I'm sure one of the reasons I feel no affinity with the Zhik brand is that they come across as a bit too slick for their own good- f**k it, I'll stick with Rooster or Gill or Sandiline rather than pay for that thanks- hot girls though.