There's a lot of sub forum stuff on here that is/hopes-to-be/was the basis for brand new cat classes. After reading through random bits of the F12 and F14 pages there is a significant disconnect between the target audiences and specs that different people propose such cat classes should aspire to (or are attributing their lack of success).

My reading of all these posts in various forums seems to show different desires from different world markets (US/Oceania/Europe). I want to know why? What is so different between these Western cultures that leads to such differences in opinions and ultimately, the success or failure of different design concepts in different parts of the world?

The Aussie skiff classes are a prime example... They are hardly sailed outside Aus but are popular here. The Bethwaites seemed to work out what the world market wanted when they were introducing the 29er and dropped the double trapeze + more sail area for a more forgiving single trap design (to the possible detriment of immediate popularity in Aus - there were plenty of local classes that were 29er-ish already).

My reading seems to present the following generalisations of cat sailors based on geographic location (yes, they ARE generalisations, don't take offence I know not everyone fits into the mould!):

Oceania: Home build, light weight, fast, fragile is ok because everyone has a neighbour who can fix it in their garage overnight for a beer.
Europe: Factory build, weight is ok to sacrifice for robustness, but it must be fast.
US: Factory build, fast is nice, but slow is ok if it means the design is convenient, has big fleets or amateurs can sail them.

What do you think?