I believe the Olympics need a smaller class of cats as well. Like the Laser, a non trap one man 12/14 could get the young involved early and keep excellent sailors and profiles for longer. A medal like that would be something to aim for and grow cat sailors like bobsy! I cannot speak for you guys overseas, but I know that here cats are seen as no choice at all for a career in the sport. : (
This is one of the reasons I designed and built the 430. Designed after the 'A' Class, uni rigged and sailed one up, it seemed the ideal smaller sport boat to get young 'gung ho', would be's onto cats and eventually become the small, more affordable cat addition to the Olympics.
While it is a trap boat, it's wider than an 'A' at 2.4m making it more stable and very suitable for younger sailors.
It was a nice idea but the reality is way beyond my ability to bring to fruition and given that most cat sailors are not terribly interest in promoting the catamaran per se, I doubt it will happen in mine or my kids lifetime if ever.
