I'll vouch for that - Mark's "cat guide" also says that the early fiberglass 5.2 hulls were lighter than the sandwich construction.



Also - 1983 (i think) and earlier boats have a bar that runs on top of the trampoline from the front cross tube to the rear tube. While a lot of people will say "what a pain in the knees", once you get used to it, it is a nice foot hold when you get hit with a gust. Mine has the bar and I'm not that worried about it.



On the fiberglass boats, look for a soft spot on top of the hulls about 12" in front of the front cross beam and look for stress cracks on the inside top edge of the hulls in the same area. This is the first signs of the hulls giving in to the stresses of the bridle wires and one day will lead to "oil canning" where the hulls start collapsing in this area. However, don't be overly alarmed about this. A) they will show these signs for a good while (mine has had them for two years and I sail the snot out of mine) and B) they can be repaired by adding a port forward of the beam and doing a little glass work.