Though I'm more a fan of the Alberg designed Pearsons than the Shaw ones, I found this interview with Bill Shaw (designer, then an exec at Pearson) interesting.
Bill Shaw Interview (http://pearsoninfo.net/articles/sailor_1.htm)
In particular, I like this:
Quote
The American Sailing Association did a "man on the street" survey, and came up with some interesting things; while a lot of people think sailing is wonderful, they also have some negative perceptions:
- It's clubby - you have to belong to a club to get into it;
- It's terribly expensive;
- It's terribly dangerous;
- It's very, very complicated - it takes years to learn;
... all of which is pure nonsense.
I've encountered that attitude myself, here twenty years later, when talking about sailing with non-sailors. The attitude fascinates me.