In response to Mary:

Under the rules I proposed , a hooter is a "other sail". "other sail" could literally be anything or any combination. I used 150 ft2 to cover a small jib and a hooter or spin. Sailing open class under US Sailing Portsmouth rules, a Hooter and a Spin are treated the same. There is no problem with using a hooter in NA. Sailing under texel rules you would take a hit for a hooter.

I would really like to see a boat that anyone could sail. For years have watched women crew struggle to transition from crew to skipper in catamarans and finally give up because of the physical demands. A couple of years ago I was surprised to see a woman I thought had dropped out of sailing, with a Vanguard 15. I asked her why the monohull and she showed me how she could take from the storage rack to sailing and back, by herself, anytime she wanted. In recent years I have become interested in a boat for me. Hoisting a 31 foot mast lost it's allure years ago.

I think mast height is the key element. This will determine righting weight, ease of raising the mast, and stability. It will indirectly drive weight and structural loads. With unlimited mast height, designs will eventually move to the limits of stability or the physical capabilities of the crew. In general, the shorter the mast the more stable in puffy, windy, choppy conditions. For example, Waves and Hobie 14's start to come alive under conditions 5.5 uni's start looking at the beach.


In response to Wouter:

Yes there is lot of Moth in this. The problem I have with the moth is: the current favorites are about the most unstable boats I can imagine. They banned the catamaran configuration in the 70's when the Tunnelhulls started taking over. (think of a 50 lbm Laser Vortex or Hobie Bravo.) I think they might lead the world in small catamaran design if they had continued. Also the Moth homebuilders seem to be the masters of creating super high tech, cheap.

To everyone:

if you want to get this thing going, start cheap. Write some basic rules, set up a class association that provides nothing but an emailed membership certificate and negotiate a Portsmouth number probably based on a Mystere or a Hobie Dragoon. Then in a couple of years, check back and see if there is enough interest to expand or even to continue.

Finally keep the humor in it. We are doing this for fun and we are not competing for anything of value.