Wouter, thanks for your (most recent) excellent reply and input.

Regarding the H170 and trapezing/capsizing/ballast, it is a centerboard boat with a small amout of weight in the centerboard but none in the bilge or anywhere else (I think it has 30 or 50 lbs in the centerboard). In fact, the boat capsizes quite easily - just standing on the rail will put the boat right over; I've test capsized it a couple of times to see how easy it would be to right. The boat wasn't designed to be singlhanded so it would be easier to handle with another person or two on board. The hiking straps and trapeze I've added have really helped.

Regarding adjusting the H170 mast rake, the boat has adjustable chainplates on the upper and lower shrouds but these are only good for adjusting tesion on the rig, not mast rake since the forestay is fixed length and an integral part of the furling jib. The only solution would be to add a shackle above the furling drum to lengthen the forestay but then the helm would likely be unbalanced when sailing sloop rigged.

I recently heard someone say that there aren't that many new Inter 17's, FXone's, or F16's being sold these days because many/most of the people buying a modern singlehanded catamaran are buying A Class cats, even if their interests are primarily recreational and not racing. I did not include A Class in my original short list despite the fact that the low weight was very attractive because I thought it might be too fragile and not as well suited for recreational sailing as it is for racing. I had assumed A class sailing characteristics would be quite similar to the FXone/Fox due to what appears to be a similar hull shape. Is this fundamentally true or is it in fact a more demanding boat to master due to it's lighter weight, requirement for and responsiveness to tuning, and it's need for finnesse as your subsequent post suggests?

Anyway, thanks to you and everyone else for the great advice.

Jerry