Mark, you're saying EXACTLY what I meant. I in no way, shape or form would think that just having the cats in one event would change anything. I was just pointing out that part of the path to Olympics in the US includes Junior Olympics, and we are missing the boat with no cats in the program.
If we had the mother of all programs, fully sponsored cats at locations all over the country, that would be a ton of work to put together for a few people. But, it's a good place to start. The tough parts would be finding the sponsor, then finding the kids willing to sail in the class that only has 10 boats at the regatta.
EDIT: Here's the novel idea (just came to me...): The 10-boat program just might work if we can make it more "elite" than the existing mono paths. We can tie it into the mono world, rather than trying to replace it, which won't work with just 10 boats per location. The magic trick is, make a regatta (preferably a series of regattas) that requires qualification from other classes (cats or monos, doesn't matter, just need some rules). Make the prize for winning the regatta (or series) a college scholarship. This might be one of those "it's too obvious" ideas, but certainly could work, may entice sponsors and parents to get excited, etc. I am not aware of any dinghy events that currently offer scholarships, but if they exist, I have full confidence that someone here will point them out for me... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
