I have a similar question as Danno: I sail almost always on my own, weigh about 255 lbs, and I am looking to purchase my first catamaran after years of monohull sailing. Living in The Netherlands I visited the Nacra and HC dealer yesterday. Got a very good story from the HC rep, and a fast discountoing story from the other one. Yesterday I was convinced that the HC17 would be my choice: solo sailing, simple design, give it a try for 1-2 years and than move up to FX1 or Nacra I17.
However, after reading the mailings: am I too heavy for the HC17, how much hassle is it to manage the Nacra 5.5 SL on your own, does the SL w/o jib behave as the Nacra 5.5 Uni (is tacking easy w/o the jib on teh SL?). Is the Nacra the better choice?

Bart van Haeringen