The "problem" as I, a father of 4, see it is, there are not too many Dad's who can write a check for a $16,000 toy for only Junior to sail. An Opti? Yeah. But a boat that will require Dad to help step the mast, load and off load it from the trailor, etc. and by the way, who's going to drive the car? Not so much.

The Opti/420 route has been popular for years at YC's all over the world...why? Because Dad (actually Mom) can Drop Junior Off at the club in the morning and go about their business, return later to collect Junior, go home for dinner. The Clubs can stack up the boats and the kids can rig and un-rig them.

No effort involved and very little money, compared to a racing cat.

Now, try selling a $16,000 cat to a Club, here's what the old foggies on the Board of Directors are going to ask:

1. How many Optis and 420's could we buy for that same $16,000??

2. Where are we going to PUT those things? They take up too much room and dropping the mast is a pain!

3. Who are our kids going to race against? What other Clubs have kiddie cats??

Cats require at least 2x the work of Lasers, 420's and Opti's to rig and store, never mind they cost 4x as much, and then again, who are they going to race against, and what is the "follow on" program, without any upward mobility, (No Olympic class to aspire to) it's a tough sell.

BTW, I bought my kids an Opti, and then a JY 15. It was much easier for me to buy the JY15 because after the kids were done with it, I could race it too.

My kids now have a Hobie 14 in my backyard, it never leaves the beach unless it's blowing 20+, and then it's because I'm sailling it, not them.

Yesterday I took my 14 yr. old daughter out on my Blade for a couple hours, but that was only because her 14yr. old girlfriend wanted to go out, and they both trapped, but when I offered to set up the 14 for them, no luck.

The girlfriend's dad has 2 Sunfish, she's never been out on them. Her dad races against her 16yr. old brother but only here on our lake, never been to a real regatta. I've had him out on my Blade and tried to talk him into buying a cat, but he won't write a $16,000 check when he's got two $500 Sunfish to play with...

"That's a lot of money..."

BTW, they live in a $750,000 house on the lake and he drives a BMW, his wife's got a Lexus. If he won't write the check, who are you going to sell a $16,000 Kiddie Cat to??


BTW, Mark, you had better notify Brett Goodall that he doesn't like racing with his Dad, they are not doing too well in the F18 worlds after all...


Psych!