When Ian and I finished building the three LR2's last fall we sat down and did the numbers game. Cost of materials that go into one boat was over $8,600. (no sail or battens). Costs that aren't included are building jigs, molds for foils and development time that probably never gets recovered. A good designer should be rewarded too. Our garage style build process did net us three boats that were under minimum weight at the Worlds. One at 150 lbs.
Our goal was to have a boat that we could sell at $20,000. or less and be competitive. Goals achieved but we're not getting rich doing it. And ours are custom boats that can be tailored to your specs.
Check out details of the build at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LR2ACATS/
LR2ACATS : LR2 A-Class Catamaran
John Lindahl