Bill Shaw interview in 1985 issue of SAILOR

[Captain Smollett]

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

In particular, I like this:

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.