Personally, I'm glad to see any new sailing ship kit - especially one representing a small ship on a large scale. I, too, am troubled by the price, but apart from that this thing looks like a fine beginner's project.
One other thought occurs to me about it (and, I suspect, occurred to the manufacturer). During the past few years several European manufacturers (including Zvezda) have released sets of 1/72-scale figures from the medieval period - knights, men at arms, archers, etc. from several nations. I've looked at a few of them in the hobby shops. They're molded in soft plastic, but in terms of detail and proportions they're excellent - and quite reasonably priced. A cog with a crew and passengers obtained from those sources could be pretty impressive.
Let's just hope the kit is up to the standard of the box art. This branch of the hobby desperately needs of an infusion of new, high-quality kits. It doesn't need any more overpriced garbage.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.