JJ,
With respect to beach parking when singlehanding.
Of the 3 to 4 F16 owners at my club (1 is a regular visitor) we all just sail our boats up the beach, turn it into the wind and then leasurely walk to our beachwheels that are parked above the flood line.
Of course we have SANDY beaches and any rock would damage your hulls, same with rocky beaches. Still, very much the same problems will be had with any other modern boat like the FX-one, F17 (inter-17) and F18's. The latter part is often forgotten. No modern foam core hull design with a round or flat keel will take to rocky beaches or a concrete ramp without denting or cracking.
I think that alot of myths are maintained around lightweight boats. Most of the weight savings come from parts that never touch the beach. The F18 cast alu rudderstocks weight 3 kg a piece, our F16 bend extruded alu pipe stocks come in under 0.50 kg a piece. There in nothing that an additional 2.5 kg on the rudder stock does in avoiding wear of damage on your hulls when beaching ! It is the same with many other components.
It you have rocky beaches, then you have to find a solution if you want to have any modern catamaran irrespectibally of brand. Will has found his solution, in Greece they anchor a bouy where the water is buttock deep and you hook the anchor line to the bridle leaving the rigged boat to weathervane. You then take down the sails and get the beach dolly and fit the folly with the boat on the water. I know that other people with ramps, lower the mainsail and sail in under jib or peddle their way to the ramp. Many people have found their own solutions as I did when I sailed that bloody 49-er skiff. Now that boat is a headache to launch and retrieve !
If none of these solutions work for you then you are not sailing in a locale where of the beach sailing is viable. It ends somewhere !
I always compare it to bicycles, you don't go mountain biking with a tour-de-France-bike or the other way around. So you plan your route accordingly and with planning most problems can be solved.
Wouter
