I like the F12 designs too, but I thought the Wave was going to fill the gap and be the cat equivelent of the Laser 4.7 for kids coming out of the Opti.

Back when the Wave first came out, (1996?) Sail Magazine did a test with lots of kids and some small new mono dinghys, and a Wave. All the kids said they liked the Wave better than any of the mono dinghys for two reasons: 1. It was faster and they could maybe fly a hull. 2. They had room to bring a friend or two.

My kids hated the Opti I bought them because there was no room for another kid. I traded it to another Dad for a Hobie 14, added the trap wire and the kids would sail it two up, but it was hard for them to tack. So I taught them to only jibe it when they wanted to turn around and sail home.

I think a new Wave is pretty expensive these days even by new, full race $3,000+ Opti standards. I saw one for sale on my lake a while back, it was fairly, had the backrests, trailor, etc. the guy wanted $4,500 for it! He said he paid $6,000 for it! OUCH! For a Wave? Can that be right, with the trailor and backrests?

The fact that you can put an Opti on top of a Volvo wagon or BMW is what sells them more than the Wave I think, oh, and they have a great world wide organizatoin and most USA yacht clubs use them for their junior programs vs. a Wave.