RichH wrote:

Come to think of it, I see a lot of '70s boats still, and not as many
'80s boats, and then more '90s and later boats. I am under the
impression that economic factors that saw a lot of North American boat
builders close in the '80s led to a lot of shortcuts and quality
compromises in many manufacturers' vessels.

R.


No no no no.... most USA boat builders shut down, went out of business
or went bankrupt when the socialist/democrat US congress during the
late 80s decided to penalize the filthy rich "yacht" owners by
imposing a yearly "boat tax" .... immediately followed by approx.
30,000 boat workers losing their jobs when hardly anybody bought any
boats! The infamous 'boat tax' was rescinded after about 4 years but
the US recreational boat building industry had been virtually been
destroyed and still hasn't fully recovered .... 'furriners' have since
taken a major portion of that market share.

BINGO! That )(*!$!! "luxury" tax killed the industry!

Come to think about it, that was about the time they had those decals
where every "yacht" owner had to pay an extra tax each year. I believe
my 21' Macgregor had a "B" or "2" decal on it, so some pretty small
yachts were taxed.

But that tax happened, according to a quick web search, in 90 or '91,
repealed in '93. Other events killed many companies in the late 70s and
the 80s. It was at least partly an economic down turn. The same forces
have been blamed for lower quality glass (as has a fire-retardent
requirement).

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/