Does anyone in the States remember the "Fast is Fun" program? Art Stevens had 5 Hobie Waves that he would take around the country to clubs where kids were already sailing on Opti's. I tried to find out what ever became of that program but can't get any contact with Art, now that he is out of the program.
I remember reading in a Sail magazine, back when the Wave was first introduced (1994?) they did a test of new "Kid's Boats" with the Opti, JY Opti, Byte, etc. and the Wave. I remember reading that overwhelmingly, the kid's FAVORTIE boat was the Wave. The two reasons were: "It's Fast" and "We can sail with a friend".
After I read that, I figured the Wave would become the new Opti, but here we are, more than 10 years later, when I go to Yacht Clubs all I see are racks and racks of Opti's and Lasers. No Waves. Why is that, if that is the boat the kids prefer?
I think there is a fair amount of Yacht Club bias towards the mono dinghy pipeline. The steps are well worn, Opti, Laser Radial, 420, 470. They sell it as "The way to the Olympics" or Jr. Olympics. Cats only have what, Wave and Hobie 16 as the Jr. boat. The take up a lot of room on the beach (no rack storage for cats) and most clubs don't even HAVE a beach in the first place.
One of the more enjoyable times I've had was when Art came to town and we vounteered to help the Fast and Fun event happen. Somewhere I have a bunch of pics...
But here's my take on this.
I think there should be a small boat along the lines of what is being discussed. This boat should be:
1) Easily buildable - One major problem with getting kids in cats is that whatever you come up with now will be new. If it costs a certain amount to buy, then it will slow on the take. If that cost climbs, then the family will be less likely to buy it especially if it only fits the kids, not the family. Remember that the Opti and such started out as designs to be built, and a club could put a fleet together on its own with members doing build days. While we as performance sailors usually go for the high-tech, this is a design to exercise some restraint with. Materials should not be hard to obtain, and should be relatively easy to work with.
2) Should perform well - note that I said perform well, it does not have to be the hottest thing on the water. Only hot enough. It should handle well as a requisite - I would opt for boards over asym hull shape to avoid frustration with tacking. Note that for ease of building, a single board in the middle, or lee boards on the inboard side of the hulls may help simplify the build process.
3) A variety of rigs - this may seem at odds with the simple thing, but... The discussion so far has been either-or. You could make a platform that could use an unstayed used windsurfer rig as option 1 for the simplest fun for beginners or knock-about sailing. Maybe even a Sunfish or Laser rig. Move up to the more experienced kids and add the stayed rig with purpose made sail (patterns available to sew yourself or have the local sailmaker do), maybe next step is a trap, and so on. I know that each option changes the loads on the hull, but you can plan for max as far as platform design goes, and rig as appropriate for sailor's level or money available. One boat can therefore serve a couple of steps along the road.
If a manufacturer wants to make them, fine. But they should still be home-buildable, with parity enforced in whatever class rules that may result.
I also agree that getting kids out there in an active lifestyle is the main thing that needs to happen. But access to the boats is a big thing. When I was a kid I had access to water to just goof around in all day. Buying a Sunfish wasn't an option, so I built a knock-off from Glen-L called the Buckboard (still have it). If there was some way I could have built a small cat (given money and skills) at the time I would have been all over that - I remeber drooling over the occasional new Hobie-16 that would show up, but buying one was not an option. So, again, kids need the ability and desire to get out there (and parents need to foster that), but then can't be cut off because a boat costs too much, or appears too complicated. I think time just goofing around on the water is as or is more useful than spending it in regimented racing programs. People need to learn how to simply go sailing for the pure pleasure of it - that's what makes it a lifelong activity.
As for the existing boats - while there are lot of H-14s out there, I think the majority are getting a little old and worn out, as new ones haven't been out there for a long time. I used to think this would be the ultimate boat for this purpose, but honestly something smaller and better handling would be better. I can't get too excited about any of the roto-stuff, and maybe if the Wave didn't look so much like a toy I'd like it better - have sailed them, they're good in that respect, but they just don't capture my imagination, and I wonder if that's a problem with how kids look at them too. A Laser looks like a boat, a Wave looks like a resort toy. Just my opinion.
