Erice, it's even more. The pole is also the pulling pole behind my tractor (one end to the mastball and the other end fixed with a strap in the middle of the thin most forward beam). That's also the reason why this little beam is there, by the way.

Moreover this little beam works stiffening and is besides an ideal handle for pulling the cat from the sea on the beach. Remember comfort and ease are my goals.

About the open net construction instead of a normal mesh:

It's contraversial; but in my way of catsailing I find that an open net has less resistance for incoming waves. Again for me this has nothing to do with speed but all with ease of handling big waves.
Maybe you can see that in the video when passing the first sandbank.

The price I pay that it is rather wet during sailing, but as a windsurfer I'm used tot that.