Wouter,

I only said that he said he prefers the I-17R, not that he disliked the T4.9. I think his comments related to handling the boat single handed with spinnaker and he found the I-17R to be better for getting the spinnaker up and down and still keeping the boat under control. The NACRA was designed around single handed spinnaker sailing and it does that better than anything else I have seen. Other designs may do what they were designed for very well also (T4.9 was designed as a sloop and later sailed as single handed boat, then a spinnaker was added).

I only know of two single handed boats that started out as spinnaker boats, the NACRA I-17R and the Hobie FX-one. (I know that Marstom makes the M-18, but when I asked about it, the sales pitch was about it being an A-Boat that could easily be converted back and forth from A-Boat to M-18, the difference being beams and spinnaker rig.) Based on input from two people who have sailed both the I-17R and the FX-one, I don't think the FX-1 is as well thought out in the spinnaker up and down aspect, as both said that they had to clamp the tiller with their leg while putting up and taking down the spinnaker or the boat would turn significantly.