One thing that is sometimes overlooked when purchasing one of these boats is that if you sail solo you’ll still need assistance for launching and landing as you can’t just park the boat on the beach while you put away and later retrieve the beach wheels (i.e. someone will have to bring them to you or you’ll risk damaging the boat). Unless of course there is absolutely no wind, waves or rocks present.
Whatever boat you sail single handed will be subjected to beach abuse if you don't plan things ahead. Getting that beach trolley to the boat before the waves and rocks do is just one of those down sides of sailing solo. Good planing before launching is a must. The upside of solo sailing is that you can go sailing whenever you want and not when your crew wants.
Whatever modern designed cat you choose is simply not going to be able to take on rocks and sharp objects, fibreglass taking on something harder than itself is a one way contest, so why bother to beef up the boat to "maybe" be tougher on its bottom which in turn dramatically increase the weight which then reduces the options for one person to move it about on the beach. That extra 30 or so kilos is the point at about which my back suddenly starts to object and my legs are no longer able to push weights about. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
