Eric Greenwell wrote:

Do people buy a dinghy just to go sailing most of the time,
and race
only once or twice a year? Or are they bought primarily for
racing? If
it's the later, we may not learn anything by comparing one
design racers
in gliders and sailboats, because most people don't/won't buy
a glider
for just racing.

Speaking as one who raced/sailed one design small sailboats for
several
decades (Lightnings, Flying Juniors, two classes of scows), I
can tell you it is 95% racing. This my own experience and from
observing others.

If people are buying gliders mostly for non-contest flying, a
new,
"low-cost", one design racer will never be able to compete in
value with
the used market. It will either be "priced right" but have
lower
performance, or "perform right" and cost a lot more. I think
the flaw in
the one-design concept is thinking a lot pilots like the
concept enough
to actually make any sacrifice in cost or performance to get
one.

Excellent point. The sailboat analogy breaks down.

Regards,
Doug


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