Classes fading in popularity

[QUOTE = Guest#260]

Yeah I could spec up a boat and get it built but I'd be looking at some pretty high depreciation I suspect and it's not as easy as getting a Musto Skiff off the shelf and just going sailing ...

[/QUOTE]

It really is as easy as buying any SMOD off the shelf. You go to RMW (or Aadvark or Bloodaxe) and you say you want a Cherub. They make you one. You collect it. You go sailing. Where's the difficult part in that? And then you own and race the only twin trapeze boat for lightweights! With the new rules just passed, what better time to buy because there is likely to be a gap before the next development comes along.

Beware, Blobby!
That's how you're going to be in a few weeks (months... years??) when you've got your finished Cherub out of the lounge and on the water. Who's gonna be a good boy, then??     

Ummm?? I don't think anyone is shouting. I think people are talking abut
the relationship between the initial topic 'classes fading' and the
connection between the type of boat and boat builder that builds that
boat and what effect the publics understand and perception of those
builders and building methods has to bare upon the thread topic.

Edited by Jack Sparrow

Originally posted by Strawberry

Yeah I could spec up a boat and get it built but I'd be looking at some
pretty high depreciation I suspect and it's not as easy as getting a Musto
Skiff off the shelf and just going sailing ...

[/QUOTE]

Although what I'm about to say may sound off topic I think it has an
important part to play in this thread's debate i.e.....

Talking specifically about Musto Skiff and Cherubs, as it seems we can't
have a debate without specifics.

Deprecation is all dependant upon when you buy into a class, even more
so with a SMOD than Dev boat. If you buy into the Musto Skiff in 8 years
time that deprecation cycle you quote may look very different, as there
will be another hot SMOD on the block. So it depends when you get in
and when you get out, just like the stock market.

A Dev boat like the Cherub has a longer life. Both in terms of competitive
build quality due to material use and the virtue of is Dev nature. Which
allows for change and modification of the boat. Boats are currently being
given a new flush of youth and competitiveness that were build in the
80's due to our new rules and the leading edge building techniques that
were employed back then, which has kept the boats stiff and light and
strong even now.

But it does require a longer term view. i.e you must commit to a class for
a sustained period to regain your out-goings.

If you jump in and out of a Dev class ( let's call it the Cherub class )
without commitment, like you can in SMOD's you will see higher levels of
depreciation, but not by as much as you think.

So getting back on track..... popularity is dependant on several things. A
good boat, a good supply of boats, and the right marketing support and
finally the right environment for all those elements to flourish.

As a previous respondent posted there are many good boats that have
gone and many bad ones that have sustained. Surely if it were just down
to the boat this situation would not be the case. So there are other factors
at work.

Namely social environment. This is engineered through the use of the
media and advertising.

In the modern economy you have to create the right ground swell of
support in a product to create it's sales potential ( especially in a
saturated market like sailing ). And this is what drives the life cycle of a
SMOD manufacture i.e Churn. They are compelled to drive new products
into the market to sustain the advertising cost that the system depends
upon.

A Dev boat normally funds it's self by its membership and can't sustain
high levels of ad spend to convince the markets of it worth. So in this way
it is handicapped in a modern world that is becoming brand dependant.
Have a look at the size of your cars logo on the bonnet if you don't
believe me.

So we have two independent systems working in the same environment
and this is what causes issues. And what requires careful management by
some body or something. Which gets back to my much earlier point about
licensing e.t.c e.t.c

Phew, Jack! You're going to hurt yourself, thinking this hard! Still, you've got a classic line

Originally posted by Jack Sparrow Deprecation is all dependant upon when you buy into a class

and self-deprecation if you buy a Skipper...