I'm totally biased, but in the US we should be promoting the heck out of Hobie Waves. Not so much in the rest of the world, they have differing choices.

Optis are either boring or scary depending on the kid's view of the world and definitely slow and stupid looking.

Not that a Wave is especially sleek-looking, but it beats the heck out of an Opti on looks.

And I'm going to reiterate the point that kids like to be social and sail together. There's a small percentage of kids who actually want to be by themselves.

We've had a crew of 3 kids, none of which was over the age of 7, sail a Wave with good competency (they weren't the boat in the fleet of 10 I was keeping an eye on).

Nothing is going to change the system the Opti has, but we can certainly offer an alternative to it that has greater appeal to the kids at large these days.

The opti system is all about individual competitiveness. There's a time and place for that for some kids. There are a heckuva lot more kids who aren't into that system, but they are forced into it by their parents.

In addtition to the OpenBic, which I've seen, Bic Sports is floating an "un-regatta" event theme with their sailboards, and kids like the format. I haven't seen an "un-regatta" first hand, but I can appreciate how well received it probably is.

The Wave is not as affordable as an Opti, but it is no more difficult to tote around. Get a lightweight trailer and throw it on there in one piece. Forget lifting a heavy boat over your head to put it on top of a car.

I'm a girl and I can trailer and un-trailer a Wave by myself. Cartopping is out of the question for me. How in the heck would I lift an Opti or anything else onto the top of my car without assistance?

Shop around and you can pick up a perfectly good Wave for anywhere from $1K - $2.5K