[/quote]

Kids having FUN in Optimists?
According to the people on this forum that's impossible so it must be a lie.
How could kids have fun on such a low tech out dated boat?
The 250+ Opti kids in Miami last week had a terrible time. They just can't stop smiling for long enough to realize it. [/quote]

Yeah, but I'd guess that these kids have never been on a cat in their lives. Get them into something new that looks cool, is fast, and not too complicated and I guarentee they will be hooked. I started out on a Sunfish 3 years ago and thought it was the greatest boat ever. Then I discovered the catamaran......after that, there was no more Sunfish, and instead I bought myself an H16. What I'm saying is that if you give them the option of the F12 or the Opti, I guarentee they'd go for the cat. But personally, I don't think the purpose of this, "campaign" is to convert mono sailors to cat sailors. I think we should try to aim for the kids who have never sailed before, like kids who don't have parents who are active sailors, get these F12's running, then offer lessons or seminars to teach them. Parents who aren't active sailors don't want to lug a boat to the lake or wherever to watch their kid sail, they want to drop their kid off, know that they are supervised, and know that they will have a good time sailing (or racing) a bunch of club boats. I haven't had the time to read the whole post, but I think what Wouter is getting at with the low cost, low maintience boat is an excellent idea. I just dont think that we should be trying to convert mono sailors, if they want to switch because their friends are having way more fun on the cats then they are on the Opti's let them. But if they want to stay with the Optimist let them, but lets aim for the non-sailing chidren of non-sailing parents. That was me a few years ago, but I discovered sailing and eventually discovered the cat.......Also, I say stay away from the wave design and stick to a boat with atleast a single trap. It really doesnt add that much weight to put stays on a mast and I know that F12 sailors trapped out flying by Opti's and Lasers will certainly raise eyebrows in the mono fleets.


~vinny~