Many builders started out with smaller boats. Sabre is a good example with their 28. The builders then began building bigger and bigger boats. After all, there can be more profit in one big boat than 5-10 small ones. They pretty much all followed that pattern. Look at Morris. They started with a 26, then moved up through 28, 29, 30, 36, and 38 to boats over 40 feet. Morris did the same with their day sailers - 36, 43, 52.... Cape Dory, the same. Catalina and Hunter, almost the same, but they both still build small boats. The shift to larger boats moved the price point up as the smaller boats dropped out of the new boat market. On top of that, small boats have gotten a lot more expensive. There are 23-26 footers out there in the $50K-$80K range. Part of that is because small boats now have more systems than the 35 footers of my youth.

When I bought my first new boat in 1975, I kept it on its trailer in my yard. The cost of owning that boat was trivial. I don't see much of that any more, probably because the cost of a small new boat is out of reach for most 23 year olds. That reflects the high cost of small boats and the low wages and huge debts many young people have. It also reflects changes in lifestyle. Smart phones and the internet didn't exist. Leisure activities like sailing, skiing and back packing were cheap. You sure can't say that now.