I've sailed on one - very nice ride. Hobie's taken additional steps forward with the quality of rigging. Out of the box, it was pretty easy to put together and nothing needed to be replaced, in my opinion. The foils are particularly nice finish and the best I've ever seen out of Hobie. On the water, it pivots nicely and the layout of the stock systems is logical and they work well. It comes well-equipped with Harken gear. It's popular in Europe and many Tiger teams moved to the Wildcat when it became available. Production seems to have gotten ahead of the initial rush for the boat and I'm pretty sure there are new in-the-box boats available in the US. Call your dealer. You'd do fine on an F18, Pete.