Yes, Sam, seriously. They are looking to grow Olympic sailors from youth, and don't see an active youth cat. 420s have two-person teams, spins and big fleets. At least, that was the logic.

They're learning that transitioning from sailing slow boats to cats doesn't work for the vast majority of sailors (although there are notable exceptions). Since there are very few cat sailors making these decisions, they don't understand why it doesn't work.

They have asked for our input. I did mention that the F16 is the most logical choice (yes, they are familiar with the boat), but the fleets are small and available boats are few (and expensive, although that seems to be less of a concern). The H16 is another good choice, but has other issues (non-spin in large fleets, few youth-only teams).

I agree with you that the F18 is a great training platform. It looks like the FL groups have it dialed in: get the kids crewing or steering on F18s with adults, and then team them up with other kids for F18/F16/N17 racing when they get their feet wet.

Mike