Now what were you saying about the Hobie 16 not being a modern enough design?
I was relaying the comments of others.
If youth sailors could choose any boat they wanted they would be racing C class catamarans.
Bit of a problem there however eh????
what a stupid comment to make.
All the guy's I know want a Tornado and to go to the Olympics, they (like me 16 years ago) have no way of funding it at the moment.
That's the point -- the kids don't and shouldn't have any say in the matter. The boats that are chosen for the use of youth sailors should be chosen based upon availability and cost factors, not on what would be most "popular" with the kids. The introduction of the 29er into some of the Junior Olympic Festivals is an example of trying to cater to what the kids want. And I presume the factory is also trying to make them financially attractive to clubs that want to start fleets for their junior sailors. If Vanguard made a catamaran, maybe we would have fleets of catamarans in the clubs for youth sailors now.
Have you any idea of the cost of a competitive Oppie ? It is not a cheap boat by any means.
If they do not sail something they at least have some motivation to sail, they will go and play Footbal, or rugby. Sailing really struggles against the high profile sports in the UK. I myself had some options around 15-16 to go into a more structured Skiing, Football or Rugby profession but decided that as I was getting some sponsership I would attempt to get into the next games cycle and aim for Atlanta. We were doing OK but at a critical time (just about to sign for a Tornado from Goran) we lost our major sponser and that was (basically) that for that Olympic cycle. Then got older and real money working in IT dragged me into the rat race. If I was 14 or 15 again I would be sailing a 29er, not a H16.
Come on, get real, kids will not sail a slow, old and frankly a horrible boat (mine and a number of othjer peoples opinion only) like the H16 if there are better options.
The reason the Hobie 16 has made a small recovery in the UK is becasue the kids that want to sail cats as part of the youth program HAVE TO SAIL THE Hobie 16.
The club I sail at had 3 members of the youth cat squad sailing for the last couple of years. As soon as they left the youth squad they all sold their 16's as soon as they could. The did not keep them to continue sailing a boat they loved.
The dumped them because they were sailing them becasue the had to 
