I work at PR/IR Firm and could help in some marketing and press if this actually came to something. *I wonder if something like this has ever been done - outside of boating community even. Great example of the power of the Internet, community, and pulling different people together from various backgrounds with a common interest. *Great consumer PR angles, not just boating....
Seperately, check out this site, I have been watching him build this boat for a while. He advertises on boats.com. *
http://www.avidboats.com/
The key thing about this approach is he designed the boat and is taking orders before he actually made the hull. *