I'm looking to move up the (speed) food chain from my present Hobie Wave, which may be sold this weekend.
I've pretty much ruled out the hooter conversion for the Wave as being a "work in progress" (perhaps wrongly), and too costly.
For a replacement, I'm looking at used cats.
In the Hobie line, I've pretty much boiled down the choices to:
1. H14, either Turbo, or with the "hooter" conversion. OR.
2. H16, with reefable main for single handing.
My intended use is for mostly two-up sailing, with spurts of solo use, and (if I ever got good enough), perhaps some racing. Crew weight would be 300 lbs dual, and 180lbs solo.
I know that there are other makes and models which might do just as well but what I am lacking is any on-water experience on anything but the Wave.
So, I'm looking for someone in the area (driving distance from central Brevard county)who is willing to give me a ride on something in the range I'm looking at.
There are quite a few good deals available on 17 foot and larger cats, but common wisdom says they're too big for solo use, and would be a real handful getting in and out of the water.
Just betting that I'm not the first guy to find himself in this position, I appeal to the cat folks in the area to help me avoid making a mistake on my next boat.
TIA,
Bob Cowgill
Cocoa, Florida
E-mail: rcowgill@cfl.rr.com