Probability or something like it, Hugh Howey making some good points, and in the “weirdness of getting old” department…
I once had a teacher of design who often said…
The answer to most all things is simple.
He made a good case and I have yet to find an instance where that statement did not apply. The problem for most people is that they seldom want the simple answer or result. Which is where all the idiotic complication comes into the picture. Especially where boats are concerned.
These days, I spend most of my time trying to uncomplicate and simplify stuff on boats because some designer listened to someone in sales who wanted more selling points rather than seaworthiness and affordability. Things like ensuite heads, bells, whistles, and an extra hull the user might not need.
When all is said and done, a cruising boat is by its very nature, a very simple machine. Simple makes sense and results in a seaworthy and affordable boat. Then again, you don’t see any boatbuilders using seaworthiness and affordability as selling points these days…
Giving how much a “living wage” is today, and the ever increasing cost of materials, I do not see how any boatbuilder can compete with the second hand market. My home build 26ft was costed around 30K, I picked up a solid glass boat with the features i wanted for less than 1k.
If I could sell sub 30ft plywood-epoxy cruisers and make a living, I would be doing it. The buyers who will drop 50k and a 21ft boat is just too small.
What 26 foot design?
A one-off box-keel motor sailer. I got as far as casting a ballast, framing up on the keel, transom and stem mounted, engine beds and battens run in, ready for permanent stringers and ply planking.
It got dismantled and is “flat-packed” in the barn roof.