Hi;
Got to agree with Wayne B. Most people just want a fun big white boat
to zoom around in. They read Sailing magazine for product advice. The
editors are profit motivated and want to sell advertising space. Next
you see beautiful pictures in the magazine with sailors who are nothing
more than models used for product placement.

I saw the same thing happen to sports SCUBA decades ago. Certifying
organizations, (PADI, SSI etc.), magazines, and equipment vendors
realized they could make more money if they all cooperated. As a
result, you have sports SCUBA instructors being told by their
certification organizations to use only the "safest equipment" possible
for their instruction. So the curriculum changed to reflect the "new
safer" technology. Only problems is that only company XX is the one
that sells the stuff. Unfortunately most people do not realize that
equipment distributors - magazines - and certifying organizations are
there for one thing...... maximize profit by cooperating together.

Apply that same model to sailing: Corporations that build boats also
own a charter operations, that also have stock in print media, that
also have agreements with equipment vendors that supply the builders at
a reduced price. So the average Joe who always wanted to go sailing now
can get a "keel boat " certification from a national sailing school,
who by the way teach that you need their certification to charter a
boat, from guess where??? Very effective marketing model.

Need to remember that competition can drive business bankrupt.
Cooperation is vastly more successful.

Very persuasive. Who wants to buy/use those old outdated designs
anyway? They are slow, old, difficult to sail, and are not safe say the
charter companies, magazines, school curricula. For example read some
of the old threads regarding double ended hulls. I agree it is very
difficult to have a grand stair case on a double ender.

Persuasion method used: inductive logic. "You can get a man to
swallow an elephant if you feed it to him one bite at a time." There
is no means of persuasion/marketing more potent than a person who
persuades their self.

Emotional appeal: Fear. You'll kill yourself or God for bd a family
member. Need to be safe so you need this safety equipment, boat,
certification etc.

Bob