Hi Jerry,
I came to catamarans after 30 years of sailing high performance monohulls, dinghys, like your experience. You don't have to and should not start out sailing beach cats that won't tack and pitchpole in a heartbeat to learn how to sail beachcats. Beachcats are much easier to sail than monohulls. They are more highly powered and therefore the feedback to the sailor's actions makes a bigger difference in boatspeed. The boats are responsive; they talk back to you and with your experience in monohulls , you will catch on and come up to speed quickly.
To your questions: 1. Get the boat you really want first. Do not buy an old design, hard to sail boat that won't tack. The higher performance boats are much easier to sail and much more pleasureful to sail than the one you mentioned.
2. I have no experience there.
3. First of all a catamaran that turtles easily, like every time it turns over, is not properly designed. It is not a safe boat. It is not a necessary characteristic of a catamaran to turn turtle every time it turns over. This is the exception, not the rule. If a beachcat is properly designed, it won't turn turtle. There is enough volume per unit length in the mast, bouyancy, that the boat will not turn turtle when turned over.
When a beachcat turns over, tramp to windward, the boat immediately spins around to a tramp to leeward orientation. This is because the tramp becomes the sail and the center of drag now is out in the middle of the sails and rigging which are in the water. The turned over system is only stable with the pulling force, the tramp, downwind of the drag force, the wet rigging and sails.
4. There is a 17' US built beachcat that is designed to be sailed by 1 or 2 persons. It has a true self tacking jib so it can be sailed by 1 person with jib and main or 2 persons. It also comes with a spinnaker and spinnaker launcher and retracting system if desired. The spinnaker option is usually sailed with 2 persons. This boat also comes with a factory righting system for one person righting and it doesn't turtle.
5. and 6. No experience or knowledge.
Good luck,
Bill