Bill,
The first thing you should do before looking for a boat is check out your regional sailing association.
For you this would be
http://www.emsa-sailing.org/index.htmTake a look at the regatta results for the past year or two. This will tell you three things. How many people go racing. What boats they race, and What they consider a class and how do they start the classes and run the races.
For some organizations... three boats equals a class... So, If you were going to a Hobie regatta then this is your race. This might be OK.. (but only if the three sailors are closely matched in skill and experience). Otherwise... If you are starting out... you will be stunned at how far back of the other two you could be. The fun factor is severely challenged. If at the next regatta, you are the only racer... you win! but the fun factor is zero.
Other organizations, run all boats in one combined start and run everyone in an open class and collect your elapsed time plus your boats handicap is then used to sort out 1 through N .. They also score out the one design (or formula classes). So... if you are the only H17 for instance, you will still be racing the Hobie 16's and 18's and and the Nacras in open class. A big advantage is that while you might own a fast boat... in reality, on the race course, you will be hard pressed to keep up with a slower boat with an experiecned sailor. So, your race will be trying to keep up with or stay ahead of the slower boats until you gain enough experience and skill to start challenging the boats in your class and then the overall fleet of sailors.
Another factor to consider, If the majority of the racers in the events you would go to are racing spin boats... Its not going to be a lot of fun racing a slow non spin boat against them (even if you sail it extremely well and win!!!).
Lots of people are looking for crew... you might want to get wired into the fleet and start crewing on several boats for a season. Now you have just invested in your personal gear and you will experience first hand, the racing, the classes and members... When you start your own program... you will really be well up the learning curve.
If you don't want to race, then you should be looking for the boat in the best condition, that suits your price, weight and desire to single hand. This will buy you the most amount of fun on the water with the least amount of headaches. If racing is in the cards down the road... great! Start out crewing... By the end of this game, You will have a lot more skill... know what you want and can handle and probably have a crystal clear idea of the racing fleet that suits you in your region.
Bottom line, Racing is more of a social contract then you might recognize at the begining. See what your options are and then fit the boat choice into that framework. Back in the day... it was simple... ID the fleet in your area... buy one of those and go racing! Now, its a bit like reading tea leaves as to which classes are growing, holding or dying in your area AND do the organizations recognize the changes and make accomodations to match the ever changing cat racing scene.
Have fun.
Mark (CRAC and A class) The region to your north!
Check out the one design page for the Florida racing schedule to EMSA's south.
Finally, be really cautious about the term FRAGILE...
All of the newer high tech boats are not fragile on the water and will take more abuse then your body could on the water.
None of the high tech boats will take ANY abuse on the beach... So, If you want a boat that could sit in the surf line and thrash around a bit, or survive getting blown over on the beach ... you want an old school design. For these owners... your high tech boat is fragile cause it won't do this and survive very long.
Now, the high tech boat owners, don't use the term fragile... they use the term PIG, to refer to those boats that weigh a ton but will take the beating on the beach. Obviously, nothing is really learned or communicated by the use of either term.
So, To each his own... just make sure you understand where everyone is coming from when they rep their personal favorite class.
