Mary, while getting kids started when they are young is important, I believe the formative years of sailing begins when parents begin to let their kids enjoy sailing on their own and unsupervised, which is probably somewhere around 12-13. My fondest memories of sailing in my youth were when I sailed out by the harbor entrance and routinely capsized our Flying Junior jumping and riding waves. That is where my real love of sailing began. Even then, I wanted more speed and I recall asking my dad if we could build a sailing proa (remember Crossbow?) which sounded thrilling. It would have been a thrill to have built a cat like this F12 with my dad.

I must confess, I like what Wouter is working on, whatever it’s called. It may be a little on the expensive side, but if its construction is truly short & simple, it may be well worth it.

This may be a crazy idea, but can we have two classes – a F11 & F12?

Wouter, not that I’m asking you to design it, but would it be possible to build an 11 foot cat that would meet the objectives Mary laid out – or is 11 feet just too short? If it was possible, the F11 could address the younger kids at a low cost & lower performance, and the F12 would address the teenage market - which I believe is important.

Bill Nieuwkerk