Thanks TigerMike.
Hobies are plentiful in the US, so a used on could be had easily and might make a good (and inexpensive) starter boat to get us up to speed before upgrading to an F18 or such.
Sailing a TheMightyHobie18 (or similar) for a season or so and then moving onto a F18 is a great strategy. If you haven't sailed cats much before you can get the boat handling under control and get used to balancing it on one hull without feeling like you are on a never ending lift bouncing from the top floor to the basement.
For F18, there are quite a few choices with the most popular being the Tiger
www.hobiecat.com. Capricorns have a great reputation and are starting to get established in the USA
www.ahpc.com.au. (AHPC are about 100miles from me). NACRA have recently launched their latest creation
http://nacra.us/F18/F18_I.html which looks promising but is too new to know for sure how good/bad it is. Their previous model F18's are going for bargain basement prices right now and represent great value for money.
Tiger Mike
