Wouter:

Let me try and rephrase:

First I didn't mean to imply that A cat people are better than other people. What I meant was; for what ever reason, A cat people are coming to together in numbers reminiscent of the '70s and '80s. These folks are sufficiently motivated to spend lots of money and drive long distances to sail. In my area, that is very uncommon! For instance, my home fleet scheduled a race for tomorrow which has been scrubbed for lack of participation! During absolutely gorgeous weather!

As for my criteria; they are wholly subjective and I don't expect anyone to value them more than any other personal opinion.

To explain further, the Hobie Wave and Sunfish also meet those criteria, but there is not, locally, the number of participants that the A cats have. Numbers of participants is matter of importance to me, subjectively.

I suspect that for most people, the "best" boat is the one the have now, and will only be surpassed by the one they have next!