The Bic O'Pen is I think the best alternative to the Optimist if you don't have an Optimist program locally or your kid does not like Optimists. We have both at our club and when it is windy, it's the kids on the Bic's who are having the most fun because the boat is self rescuing, very easy to right, and self bailing. It's also faster and looks cooler. You can run into a dock and not hurt it.

Not knocking the Optimist but it's long in the tooth and the Bic is a refreshing alternate. The same thing is happening with the 29er versus 420. The 29er is faster, cooler, and can be sailed with a wider weight range but it is more expensive.