The Dragoon price is officially $5,895.00, so a new H14 is less than a Dragoon (at the un-official price I gave Mary). And yes there are lots of used H14's around and we were just given another H14 that is in real good shape, so we will be using new and used H14's. Once again the prices I gave, which to tell you the truth Mary I did not want you posting on the forum until I finalized the prices (should of told you this) may go down further once and if I get to speak with Hobie Brazil. So don't think that the prices are finalized yet. Also, there are some adults and kids who want new H14's regardless of the price. We also may have a grant available soon for our club and so will be able to get new H14's with this grant, remember this is a club choice.

What is strange about kids deciding what boat they want? They had the opportunity to sail the Dragoon and Wave at the fast and fun event, and have sailed several H14's for a while now. They were simply asked what they liked best, and sense there is no official junior age multihull, they chose the H14. I let Mindy my daughter read the post in this thread and let her respond as well, as she felt she wanted to respond.

Also we are not just buying a bunch of expensive boats for the fun of it. We have an active club; they plan to race them, etc, etc. Actually, we do not care at all about the Olympics (highly over rated), as most of the kids will never pursue the Olympics nor Tornado racing, and the likely hood of another multihull getting into the Olympics is highly unlikely, especially now that the Olympic committee is looking at scaling down the number of the events in the Olympics. We are more interested in preparing the kids to sail for life and the enjoyment of sailing, and yes even prepare them for some big races if they want such as the Pan Am Games, World Games (ISAF), & H16 worlds all of which cost much less to prepare for and get into than the Olympics. So in our view the H14 is a step forward. Oh yes I should add that H14's are all over the world like the H16, and still built on 4 continents. Now lets see the Dragoon is built on one continent, no used market for the boat, only in a few boats available in various countries, etc., etc., so I don't see the Dragoon as a stop forward.

I know some are going to say well IT (Dragoon) HAS A SPINNAKER! Well just look around at junior age racing such as with Laser, Laser Radial, and Optimist, Sabot, etc., None of these classes have spinnakers and are going strong! At a recent Sabot regatta, they had over 400 sailors racing. None of our kids or for that matter the adults at our club are interested in Spinnakers, we do have several boats in our area with spinnaker that the kids can experience and most are just not interested. To tell you the truth our club would go with the Wave before ever considering the Dragoon, and now with the new Hobie Bravo, which cost even less than the Wave, and from all reports is even more exciting to sail than the Wave, we may be adding the Bravo to our list. The kids have seen pictures of it and think it would be fun but stated it has no jib so they can not sail together (two on each boat).

So when we looked at a junior boat (youth boat is the H16) we looked at all the advantages, etc. and the H14 to us stood out as the obvious choice. Now you or anyone else have more than a right to disagree with us and maybe we can discuss this issue more on this forum. I will add that I have said it and I will say it again, that ''the most important issues with making a junior sailing program successful in North America is cost and the fun factor.'' Just go to a Laser or Opti event and just watch how much fun the kids have, and with no spinnaker imagine that. What we need to do is put our biases aside (as much as possible), and look past whether a boat has two hulls, if it has a spinnaker, etc. and truly look at what is best for the kids and helping them love to sail, not if they want to go to the Olympics, etc. Don't get me wrong I do believe the Olympics is a worthy cause, its just not a path I think initially we need to even worry about, and is really clouding our vision of what is important to our kids. Seems to me the Olympics and spinnakers are more important to the adults than the kids, and I might add WINNING & LOSING. Heck Mary just look at your own Wave Nationals as an example, are the kids at this event sorry that the boat has no spinnaker, or that the Wave is not a Olympic class or preparation boat?

Now with all I have said I want to add that these are my opinions and are the opinions of most of our club members, but we are not saying by any means that we are absolutely right, so please do not take offense to what I am saying. My post is intended to answer some questions and is friendly conversation, which I hope will develop into some real discussion on this topic. I have to add that at our club we also emphasize total inclusion, which mean we include those with disabilities, and is the reason we make decision a bit different than non-accessible clubs. Yes the H14 can be fitted with old style Trapseats.

Oh yes just to show you we are not all hot air go to our website at http://www.sail-s.com/main/sail/Sailing_Group/Sailing_Group_MAIN.htm