...several concerns come to mind. How many impacts are these boats going to be able to take t-boning each other at full speed... Is the construction used going to be able to handle years of being carelessly dragged up and down beaches, and launch sites? Can a child right the boat unassisted? ...Some of these kids are good... but are they ready for this boat? Most kids don't graduate from an opti, to a 420 or laser (4.7 or Radial for that matter), until they are 12 or so. The opti provides a safe, reliable introduction to sailing for kids under that age. Putting them on a cat with the performance potential of this boat is scary to say the least. Instead of trying to find a boat to compete with the opti, we need to find a boat to compete with the laser and 420. This may be it, but we are fooling ourselves if we think it's wise to have kids sail and race this boat instead of an opti.
Good points. Most of the safety concerns can be solved with good engineering, like rubrails, righting pole, some reinforcements in the right places, etc.
This size cat would seem to be too much for kids under 12, but only when sailed singlehanded. Just put two on board the beginers version, with a small sail (quite easy with a freestanding rig) and it might take the startup monotype monopoly from the Optimist.
In fact, one could argue that two up is safer than one up: when one is incapacited the second can help; one steers while the other trims the sail; docking is easier; racing does not become an entirely zero-sum game (cooperation with the crew is required, together with competition with the others - which is a better training to life itself), etc.
(A digression: to what extent the fact that the only startup boat available (the Optimist) is singlehanded could be responsible for turning sailing competitions more agressive, non-cooperative and feeding grownup classes with athletes that see everything as a zero-sum game? I guess it deserves a specific discussion topic.)
Anyway, I think it can be a great startup boat for a couple. Maybe it will require slightly different teaching techniques, but there's no reason to limit its use to kids over 12.
Another bonus is that sold as a two up under 12 startup cat, its price, maintenance, rigging time and other parent enslaving work must be compared to that of two Optimists. It makes this cat clearly a better buy than two Optimists, be it for two siblings, for a couple of friends, mother and son, mother and daugther, cousins, sailing schools, etc. And we know what the kids will prefer...
Lastly, after the kids are hooked, this cat will remain a great boat for them at least two years longer than the Optimist. For some girls it will last for their lifetime.
It's a great boat and a great concept!
