I don't think I paid anymore than a similarly rigged cat??
But why I think they are special....
1. Ride - Awesome riding boats, CG is always right... no hands on the wheel..tracks straight, takes a nice set after plan, leans the right way for a cat in the turns, fast hull, let off the gas nothing funny happens....Blue-printed bottom on every boat...
2. Rigging - No one is close...if they rigged V-Drives, Schiada would have a run for their money...
3. Hardware - All of their own...always tweaked to make each year better...
4. Build out - You can have it your way...really your way..
5. Experience - Some boat builds are a nightmare, and some are OK, building with the teams down there is like making art....they don't just throw together boats...and my experience after owning two and having one built has been good as well..
6. Dave is a perfectionist and kind of expects the same of his whole crew and it shows in his boats....that quality can get in the way in other fields, but it seems right in the boat building industry.
My .02