Not really. What I've always said is that you have to judge a boat against its design criteria. And not all boats are designed to win races, or to plane easily. In fact, most aren't.
I meant you're a racer, and often post with explanations from a racing point of view, so I assumed you love fast boats
I do... But I was a YM with a lot of family cruising miles under the keel before I ever started racing.I meant you're a racer, and often post with explanations from a racing point of view, so I assumed you love fast boats
I imagine so, yes. Modern electronics could easily take the difficulty out of foiling to the point a cruiser could use them. It takes a level of trust, but then so does the electronic only braking and steering in modern cars.
Again, each to their own opinions, but to dismiss a lowering stern platform as “dodgy design idea” could be just your personal viewpoint. Many think this is the ideal stern design for a cruising boat.
In our often polluted and cold waters I’ve not used our “swim” platform for much swimming but it’s VERY handy in marinas if you come in stern too it allows for much easier loading / unloading of the boat, allowed me to have my elderly mother onboard plus it’s a lot easier for the dog!
Looks as though the small cruising boat with a cabiin has gone now. Still some .mileage perhaps for the open boats in this category.
Anecdotally I’ve noticed the modern flap sterns seem to go bows in in marinas in the UK rather than lower the flap and park further out.
Plus one. Much preferred the drop down platform on my Bav 33 to the predecessor sugar scoop 37. Much better for mooring stern to because you can go right up to the pontoon with it up and pick up the stern lines while standing at the helm. Could not do that on the 37. Usually boarded from the side because the gate was alongside the cockpit. Option was still there to pull forward and drop the platform to act as a bridge. It was big enough to take the dinghy for inflating and deflating. Overall a great feature. Of course this was small enough to operate manually and I would have reservations about bigger ones that used electric motors. Bavaria used them in the late noughties and they were a disaster. Many were converted to manual.
In that case I shall not go
I think there’s still people making small boats with small cabins. It’s just that for that money it’s a niche buyer who wants new and compact/cramped rather than nice second hand with more comfort.
They probably won’t attract the exact same demographic but they might appeal to the MoBo crowd, those who would have historically been racers, those who have built up foiling experience on wind/surf/dinghy etc but have reached an age where they (or their partners) want a little more comfort.
I think that’s an old man’s viewpoint. Diesel heaters, USB chargers, toilets etc are all perfectly viable - there’s a huge market in small cramped camper vans which costs crazy money. There’s a booming market in bigger motorhomes / RVs often appealing to retirees - with new models getting into six figures if you want luxuries.
When I look around there’s plenty of younger folk sailing too - perhaps fewer owning because the cost of ownership (and berthing/storage in particular) is quite painful. And that probably answer the OPs question - who buys these? People who intend to charter them probably make up half the market at least.
