OK so if there is ever going to be a real change in the sail design it seems like there has to be a compelling business case that Vanguard, North (I am in Florida after all) and ILCA will make as much or more money than they do now off of laser sails.
So this spreadsheet shows my assumptions and seems to indicate that with those WAGs -- I mean well researched assumptions -- the business case seems reasonable. We could have a much improved sail for about $1000.
Of course it means the price of a new boat goes up by ~$400 and I didn't figure that into how many fewer boats Vanguard sells.
My use of the word "margin" is probably improper. What I was trying to do was identify the total amount of money that went towards the care and feeding of the whole supply chain - in other words, North sails, Vanguard, ILCA, the dealers, and anyone else getting a cut. Any new sail design will have to provide the same of more money in this pot.
The problem I see with your proposal is that it saves the top 220 sailors money, but costs the rest of us money.
I think a case should be made that the ILCA should make no money from sails.
OK, I'm going to ask a really dumb question. Why do we need to go to a $1000 sail?