Mark, I think you are mixing cat racing with cat sailing. Cat sailing (not racing) seems to be growing, especially in the charter world, as more people find out you don't have to spend the whole trip at 6 knots max, leaning over the rail getting splashed and sea sick. Charter cat fleets (35-45 footers) are on the rise, vs. monohulls.

As far as racing, the F18 class has brought many racers together that were previuosly spread out on the Hobie 20, Inter 20, Nacra 6.0, Nacra 5.5, Hobie 18, Hobie 17, etc. That is why that class is growing while the others are shrinking. The same number of sailors, but in the same class instead of spread out.

There is still the whole stigma of sailing being "Too hard" as well as too fickle, that is, we depend on the wind, which doesn't always cooperate. But as gas prices keep going up, maybe more people will consider sailing instead of Jet Skis.

I live on a lake in Florida, I have noticed much less power boat traffic this year, so far. I see lots of power boats sitting in the yards with a "For Sale" sign on them. That doesn't mean those people will buy sailboats, they probably will buy golf clubs. Most power boat people that I have talked to think sailing is both "too hard and too slow."

Here's something to think about: As gas prices keep going up, there will be less "disposable income" available for recreation. What do you think that is going to do to sailing, or boating in general? New boat prices also have to go up as they are made of resin which is made from petroleum. That's not going to help boat sales.

Less than 5% of people go baoting at all, less than 10% of those sail, less than 10% of the sailors sail Cats, less than 10% of cat sailors actaully race cats. That's a pretty small demographic to work with in the first place, now add in higher cost of trailering your boat to water, and higer new boat prices...