Hi Gareth and all

Agree on the maintenence aspect ,-but boats are always needing care ,its part of racing and boating in general ,-finding a way to enjoy it ,--{and get lots of help } with others seems a key .
Seems that most like to race similar boats in a class group .

There is a waterbike on the lake locally here -
http://www.seacycle.biz/
thought you might be interesred in it
It uses the back 2 piece hull section ,-the back part acting as a rudder ,--a sail could easily be adapted to it ,
It makes a nice fishing platform also ideal for trolling -
its a no motors allowed lake ,---thank goodness .
Very different type of {ideal cat }design

Back to the ideal cat design -which is many different things to different people at different stages on development with different intent and goals in sailing .

An ultimate 20 RACING CAT with larger sailplan -spin forward w foils and planning capability able to handle the 1000 mile races is my ideal ,--but again very different from others ideal cat given different goals and experiences .-