[mudman]

Why not a cat?

I live on an inland lake in MI so my perspective may not be appropriate but I think anything small, simple and cheap sloop rigged/with a jib would be great to learn on. Kinda like karting as a start to racing real cars.

Taking a boat (or any craft, for that matter) to the limit, right on the edge, isn't something you always have the luxury of doing. I've capsized and had some catastrophic equipment failures in smaller boats and it has taught me things I couldn't have learned otherwise. And when it comes to good technique what better way to learn than in a vessel where you can SEE IMMEDIATELY the effect of trim and balance.

On my lake we have some pretty challenging wind, nothing at all like open water. Gusty, lots of coves making turbulence, hills on one side and miles of wetland on the other. When we've got really good wind all day I wish I had a cat, but usually it doesn't blow hard enough to make a cat fun.

One manning a dagger board sloop in good wind is fun, trying to be quick in high wind is awesome, if you don't get the gunwale wet you're not pushing hard!