Dinghy popularity

....and of course a beginners boat would be doomed from a marketing point of view. Sailing schools might buy them I suppose but as a "Newbie adult sailors first boat" I don't think any one would touch it with a bargepole.

Tasar?

here is some research on what a newbie is getting pedalled ...

The only issue I can see is the big distributors flogging tupperware boats to gullible people at boat shows.
Most of these people would be better buying a used wayfarer, Laser, L2k or whatever populates the medium handicap fleet.
But some people are averse to secondhand stuff, and some people will buy anything with a glossy brochure, attractive sales staff and easy finance.

Some newcomers could do better by spending less on the boat and more on some training.

A point raised by Saint Frank in one of his books, it is very hard to find a sailing coach. The world is knee deep in golf coaches, tennis coaches etc. But try sorting out a coaching session 1:1 in a dinghy any weekday in Portsmouth?
This affects improvers, returners and anyone wanting to learn a bit, not just beginners.

But as winging it has said numerous time the majority don't want that. Having come into sailing later than my teens the thing I remember wanting to do after completing the basic courses was 'join in'. The draw was not the thrill of the top end stuff; it was just the beauty of sail on water. For me this meant joining the back of the most popular fleet; the Laser. I just want to sail what other were. Luckily and unsurprisingly the class fleets at clubs are of the Solo/laser/200 ilk, Big fleets of mustos/moths/14s are rarer and so the route is fairly clear. In this way the club system should be seen as a positive, I certainly found it to be the best part.

It would be good have seen a massive fleet of easy to sail, quick and sexy boats that beginner can use; fairly impossible to design, but aspirational all the same.

I suppose a gentleman coming from the top end of a thrilling water sport such as windsurfing will have a different view of 'entry level' to someone such as me who can just about swim, to me the Laser appeared to be the pinnacle of boat perfection as I had no context. Context is the key, most adults coming into the sport will not be aware of what 20+ knots in control feels like, those that do might need more excitement than a laser 2000.

I hope one day that the aspirational entry level dinghy that iGRF believes in does exists, but I fear that the path to that day has many incremental stages that will frustrate and ultimately it wont seem that great because the top end will be even further away.