I have not sailed them. I've only seen one over here ones and that was at a boatshow in 1997 I believe. That was it.

I'm afraid that I can only intepretate the specs as given at : http://www.hobie-cat.net/site_gb/?produits,hobie_wave and what were are told on this forum.

The things that concern me are :

- Its 118 kg ready to sail weigth as specified by hobie. The SCHRS handicap system measurements even put it at 122 kg. http://www.schrs.com/index.php?page=class&id=60 That is almost twice the weight of the laser/F12 which are about 65 kg and the wave is not garanteed to be car-toppable by most small car and/or roof rack builders (max 50 kg is pretty standard on European and Asian cars). Having a trailer will add both cost and complexity. Like that it starts to add up as you'll need a spot to park/store your trailer etc.

- Its very rudimentary fitting-out and sail control.

- Hobie marketing and class building for the wave. It says "recreational resort boat" in everything.

- It very much closed Single-Manufactorer-One-Design class setup. As such any introduction program may well be hampered as the youth program will be so dependent on a single party. I found that such dependency is always best avoided.

- At 4399 USD it is not the most inexpensively priced boat compared to the opti, splash and imitation lasers like the Toppper etc. It is not even that much cheaper then a laser (5100 USD)

- The international presence of the Wave is very modest at best. Rick and Mary have gotten a modest Wave circuit going on in South-East USA but this is not reflected anywhere else in the world and Hobie really doesn't seem interested in marketing the boat as Rick did/does. I think Rick has got the right angle on promoting the Wave but he is not converting Hobie cat or getting any younger.



For these reasons I wonder on what the youngsters are trained upon and what the chances of succes with this baot are. It is not sail trim as in the way as it is required on larger racing catamarans. I seriously doubt any 40 kg young teenager righting the Wave unaided as well. Add to this that the Wave is not the best small catamaran design by a long shot. It may be for resorts and their needs but not for youth training or racing. We must also consider the fact that the youth cat, which ever is chosen, will be business card of all cats. As such we better get it absolutely right or risk never seeing the kids again, because if they are turned off by the youth cat then they will reflect that disapproved off imagine to all futher cats as well. I would personally have no trouble in finding points on which to diss the Wave in a comparison to say the laser. There are too many inferiour specs in comparison to not be succesful at this. If I can do it then so can half of the rest of the world.

Basically, the wave in my view is not best suited to the job nor the most attractively priced. That is two drawbacks already that I think we best do without.