as I stated example ages, class rules are that you age out of the opti at 15. yes, some kids size out before that (from your comments, you are an example).

My experience coaching Optis State side is a lot of the top opti kids stay with the class until 14 or 15 (basically if they qualify for the Nat team or not), even if they could handle a laser 4.7, as the quality of the events / fleet warrants staying in the Opti. I would also argue that a kid who doesn't size out of an Opti implies a smaller person, and would not be an ideal candidate for Olympic Laser or Finn, but perhaps ideal for skipping a Multihull. Right now in the States and Canada (the only places I have experience with) those 'smaller' kids tend to have a hard time finding a home in sailing, usually going the route of skipping a 420 or a 29er (if they are lucky) and end up getting bored with sailing and leaving (hence, why I proposed the development track above, get them hooked with Multis). This is just my 2 cents, and I doubt it is even worth that much

This is neither here nor there though, and is a bit tangent to the discussion in this thread, so I'll leave at that