Well, simple matters a lot. Easily maintainable matters a lot. Cheap matters within reason. For all these criteria, the Prindle 16 we have is pretty good. It may be slow with the two of us on it, but maybe that doesn't matter so much. It's hard to put our whole family on, or to put friends on, and that's more of an issue. So I am not completely certain whether we need to make a change at all, but I do want to explore the question. I think we'd be going a lot faster with a bigger boat, and since I would want a used boat, I would like to know what to keep my eyes open for, but there's no crying need to get it right away.



So I would basically like to sail a few different kinds of cats, keep my eyes open, and have some idea what I should be trying, with the option of buying something if it comes at a good price and looks like a decent step up.



If, for a little extra money, we can get something we can stick a few extra people on (we have three daughters), and that moves faster, that would be worth doing. But I don't want it to be a lot more fragile, and handling shallow water really matters a lot. I hear of people tearing up centerboards on sand bars, and I don't want that. If the boards kick up easily, that's fine.



We almost always trailer the boat, and I want to get in and out of the water quickly. Within reason, we can deal with a little more weight on either the boat or the mast, but if the boat is easy to handle on land, that offsets a little speed on the water.



High performance is a lot less important than stability and safety for us.



Thanks for the questions - it helps me be more specific!



Jonathan