I love the idea of a 12ft children’s cat, this is something I have been thinking of myself. Would not the cheapest lightest rig be a windsurfing rig. Instead of skegs or dagger boards perhaps a hull shape similar to the Gcat would be more practical, I feel that that hull shape would work even better on an F12 than an F16 (on which it seems to work quite well).

I have a test crew ready and waiting as I have 9, 7 and 5 year old children (my 7 month daughter is a bit young) that I am currently introducing to an optimist.

I think the main advantage of a cat over a mono for children is stability not speed, that said it would still be pretty quick.

As per Wouters request, here is the michlet drag prediction of a 12ft cat carrying 120kg (Hull2 purple), in order to give it a sense of scale I have compared it with a laser at the same weight (Hull1 red).



I am happy to participate in an open source design.

Gareth
www.fourhulls.com