The story goes like this: I had begun this cat in 2005 and had completed the two pontoons. Then I saw Waterworld. That movie, in which Kevin Costner lives aboard a 60-food trimaran, started me thinking about size.

I wanted this cat to get some attention, because I was sure that both kids and adults all over the world would be interested in a form of sailing that didn't cost so much, was easier to build (no fiberglass and resin), and most important, the boat could be easily transported on a roofrack, in the back of a pickup, or even pulled on a simple trailer behind a bicycle, like we did years ago in California with our surfboards. Imagine the freedom for teenagers who can take their sailboat with their bike to the lake, sail all day, and don't need their parents to take them in the car because their boat is so big and heavy.

So what did I do? I made a cat so big that I needed my pickup to carry it! It became RebelCat 4, and if you've seen the computer printout of its completed design, you will probably agree that a cat this big and painted like that will get some attention.

Now I want to return to the scale of the original prototype (RebelCat 1), because that was the size that would fulfill the dreams I had of low-cost, easily-transported and fun sailboats. Did I mention that cats are fast? To me, part of the fun of sailing is getting there faster than a crawl, which is what many small sailboats do. Tiny sail, fat hull, very slow. And too big to pull behind your bike. If you can afford a Laser or other small, flat-bottomed boat, great. But if you only have $100, your choices are limited. Enter RebelCat 5: cheap and easy to build, small and light enough to carry behind your bike, knocks down and assembles in minutes on the shore, fast enough to make it fun getting there.