I’ll admit that not following the crowd is not always easy. Being a bit different is going to be something of a chore when you’re confronted with group think individuals who find your non-conformity a threat.
On the other hand, in my opinion at least, the freedom that not conforming to the status quo gives you a great edge, in my opinion at least, that more than makes up for it.
The easiest way to eliminate most of the hassle factor of not doing the same old same thing as everybody else is to adopt as much of a stealth profile as possible or, at least, don’t rub their noses in it. Just do your thing. The good news is that most boats (as well as the folks on them) pretty much just look like boats and folks.
Having a boat that is too different tends to bring out the “You’re not like us” reaction to a problematic degree. When we were sailing Loose Moose and Loose Moose 2 in Europe we found that having a different boat was a two edged sword in that it tended cause outrage in some but also introduced us to a lot of folks who were very interested in design, open to new ideas, as well being a bit nicer.
Still, our lives would have been quite a bit easier if we’d had a pointy bow…