Thanks for the information, folks, it's much appreciated!

I have about 10 years experience on a Compac 16 and a Catalina 22, but I've been on precisely two cats; a rental Hobie Wave and an F18 in a PC Catamaran Club race. THAT was the clincher. Looking for used and max budget is about $3k, though I might be able to stretch that for the right boat.

I think my real dilemna is that I don't want to get too much boat for single-handing because I'm not sure how close real use will be to anticipated use. On the other hand, if the family consistantly wants to go by fast sail instead of slow sail or fast power, I don't want too small of a boat, either.

I hadn't really thought of the winged Hobies because I'm not wild about the look. Perhaps the practicality of them warrants a revisit.

If I could find a P18-2 anywhere nearby, I'd jump on it. The part of the bay where I'll primarily be using this (West Bay) is very shallow, although I don't want to limit myself to non-daggered boats soley for this reason.