From my limited experience sailing on an original SC-17 it was about the easiest cat to sail I can imagine.
You really could submerge the bows without worrying about pitchpoling. The boat hardly slowed down. It was smooth, quiet dry and the steering was as light as on a laser. The hull shape was comfortable for trapezing and hiking. There were no sharp edges anywhere as I recall. The boat tacked easily. It seemed to sail best upwind trimmed down by the bow somewhat. It was fast, but deceptively so. That sounds like a good beginners boat to me.
It makes perfect sense that the boat should balance well with many different sailplans. The center of pressure on those hulls should be located very far forward due to their shape. If the rudder angle is close to zero the center of lift is far forward. As rudder angle increases the center of lift will move aft.
I have not sailed a new one yet. It looks like an ideal cruising boat for the Chesapeake Bay.
