Option # 2 would seem to give the best balance of performance Vs complexity and cost.
No kid likes to look like a fool in front of their friends because they don’t catch on quickly. The more complicated the entry level cat is, the more chance of alienating a large portion of the group who come from a non sailing background, and who’s parents are non sailors.
My experience with teaching kids to sail is limited to my son's high school sailing team (20 +- team members pretty equal mix of boys and girls). We practiced at, and had a professional sailing coach from US sailing (Jensen Beach Fl). The boats sailed were 420’s; at one point I believe we had something like 9 boats on the water at once. Working closely with the coach, I observed most liked sailing but only a very few liked "racing". Most did not want to helm the boat but would rather crew. Some would have rather sailed by themselves on a Laser if forced to "race" so they didn't have to contend with critical crew mates when they didn't win. Granted these were older kids, 14-17 years old. The top kid on the team came from optimists…the next two closest competitors had sailed sailboards.
What made the Team inviting is:
1) Professional (paid) Coach with notable credentials who directed all of our practices, on and off the water, and who had answers to all related sailing questions.
2) There was time for free sailing before the practices, but once the practices started it was very well structured and controlled. While we wanted everyone to have fun (and they did) the practice sessions were all about learning to sail, disruptive behavior was not tolerated. Parent Volunteers keep the peace so the coach could coach instead of being a babysitter, or disciplinarian.
3) A US Sailing facility that provided the Boats/Sails on a sandy beach on the inter coastal waterway with good conditions for learning at a reasonable monthly fee. US sailing provided Coach boat and one safety boat, marks and water edge storage. They even had a small barge to tow out so the kids would not have to set on the beach when crews were changed out at multi school races.
4) Very involved Parents, four fathers, including myself, were there every practice and ran the coach boat and safety power boat, often providing one other safety power boat so the coach could coach. He was able to direct the buoy set, and keep tabs on every sailor through us. We helped the kids rig the boats and made sure all safety proto-call was followed.
5) We had fundraisers at a local Yacht club, and on one occasion it yielded over $2,000 profit for a single Spaghetti Dinner that the kids held and the parents organized and participated in.
6) To expand the fleet several Fathers searched and found three used boats that they bought for the team and working on weekends refurbishing , patching hulls and re-rigging…with the kids helping and learning how to take care of, and repair their own boats.
7) The kids had a blast and so did the fathers that participated. It was not about the boats (although super easy tacking was their favorite thing they liked about them) it was about community.
The Blade 12 looks amazing and is sure to excite kids who “want to do what dad does”… But it will be community that makes or breaks all these awesome looking mini-cats.
Best Regards,
Bob
