Luiz
"What I do worry about is the possibility that big manufacturers refuse to support the class and use the work published here to develop their own youth cat. We must protect the project from this risk."
Is this a problem?
I thought the purpose was to get kids onto cats. Any cat
We need an international entry level cat to compete with the typical monohull entry level dinghies: Optimist and Laser.
(A 12 ft platform with two sail plans seems to be a good setup for the entire age range covered by the two dinghies)
The Optimist and Laser are a lot more efficient atracting kids than Optimist-like and Laser-like classes. The reasons are many, we are just copying them to make an international OD entry level cat class, designed to atract kids to cats with more effiiency than "any cat" classes.
If a big manufacturer develops its own entry level cat, it will result in higher prices, restricted distribuition, impossibility to build at home, lack of competition to reduce prices/improve parts, etc.
We want to create the boat and the class association. Afterwards the association will offer the plans to manufacturers for serial and kit production, as well as to individuals for home construction. This will spread the class around the world faster and increase the chances of success.
