A note about those "spin-off classes offering a home to those not at the front end of the Optimist circuit"
The RS Tera - one of the alternatives to the Optimist This is a response to a comment, on a FB group, summarizing the conventional view that only the Optimist is the truly worthy pathway for youth sailors aged say 10 to 15, and that the other classes are mere "spin-off classes offering a home to those not at the front end of the Optimist circuit." I think that things are much more complex than that regarding U16 youth sailing. Conventional thinking is that the Optimist is the best / only worthy path. It’s the naïve approach that many people, many parents, many clubs, many federations, fall for, not knowing the details about what competitive Optimist sailing is. The reality is that it is extremely difficult to develop top Optimist sailors. For several reasons. First the boat is complex, unnecessarily complex for boys and girls being 10,11 and 12, and who spend considerable amount of time learning for example how to rig the sail, adjust the sail ties, etc. All of this i