Interesting topic. Always interesting to see when a convenience becomes a necessity.
"I would never buy a car without cup holders. I didn't have them in the past and constantly spilled my beer. Never again. I don't know how people lived without them."
Now if cup holders were $28,000 (and a $9,000 install), maybe more would go old school and get by without cup holders.
I read an article on the effectiveness of stabilizers (which I now can't find again) that was interesting in that it rated the systems by "real world" usefulness for recreational boats. Probably not something that the sellers of stabilizing systems would agree with. The expensive gyro stabilizers rated slightly better than paravanes, hydraulic fins, bilge keels, etc. All of them were in the 30-40% effective range. Why was that? Because a $35,000 gyro system doesn't work when it is turned off (like when at anchor). If turned on at anchor, it requires running a generator constantly to power the thing and noise/fuel burn/maintenance was figured in to this study's "effectiveness." Upon seeing an approaching cargo ship in calm seas, the generator and gyro can be turned on and will hopefully spin up in time to neutralize the ship's giant wake. If not, that's $35K for nothing. The gyro system can hold the boat rock solid when running, but when figuring in overall cost, not so effective. Same with paravanes. Only work when moving, increase fuel burn, installation and maintenance cost all reduced the overall "effectiveness" of the system. Some would pay any amount for a boat that doesn't bob on the water (causing unsecured items to tip over!), but this article was looking at "bob per buck."
The highest rated stabilizer system? Anti-roll tanks. Granted the actual effect in reducing a roll is way less than a gyro system (when running), but the anti-roll tank is "always on," zero maintenance, and relatively inexpensive to install. The article rated anti-roll tanks at above 70% effectiveness. I can hear the howling protests.
I've been experimenting with an anti-roll system on my boat. I'm into it almost $100 for my system. My wife noticed the difference even when tied up in the marina (we get an occasional wake from ferries). Probably the subject of another post, but something that might be considered by anyone looking at a "necessary" stabilizing system.