I agree about 15yr. olds in Opti's, that just ain't right!

Maybe start them at age 6-8 in Opti's, then about 10-12, put them on a Wave, then at 14 go to the F16, certainly by age 15 they could be on an F16..

I think we should get input from some of our Junior cat racers, they are closer to the source (youth!) and can say what they would have liked to sail when they were 10-14.

I think the only reason the Opti is so popular is, it's cheap, small, Dad can put it on the roof of the family car and the club can stack a zillion of them on a rack so storage space is not an issue. Oh, and you don't need a beach, or beach wheels, to launch it, you can toss it off the dock.

But as a sailboat, it makes a great bathtub!