I think if you want to develop a catamaran training pipline, you should forget about both Opti's and 420's and start kids on the Wave, because it's indestructable, won't fill with water if you capsize it, you can put more than one kid on it, and Dad/Mom can get into it too. Then move them directly to the F16, unless something comes along between the two.

Ask Barb Short about how popular the Wave is with kids. When I started my own kids in an Opti, at age 8, the HATED IT! "It's TOO SLOW!" etc. When we went on vacation to a Sarasota hotel, there was a Wave for rent on the beach. I took them out on it, showed them how to tack it, and got off it and let them have fun.

They LOVED IT! They wanted me to buy one when we got home, and they had an Opti in the back yard, on the lake....but they never sailed it.

"It's too slow!"