I'm looking for opinions on a boardless cat. The water is shallow here as well as some rocks and coral heads to watch out for. I want to be able to single hand it and right it myself. It will probably have a crew of two most of the time. Occasionally the whole family might want to go out, but probably not often. Since it needs to be carried down the beach with a little embankment I want to keep the weight down.

Could the Nacra 500 and P16 handle an occasional crew weight of 500lbs+? It's been a while but I've owned a P18 (escape model not the 18-2) and a Tornado. The P18 is light and will handle the heavy crew no problem. The Nacra 500 is close in weight but I'm not sure if it can handle the occasional heavy crew. I no nothing about the P16 but heard it might have trouble with the weight.

The winds here are usually pretty strong and gusty, another reason I'm looking for a smaller boat. Again, most of the time there will be a crew of two, but I want to be able to right it myself. Not sure if I remember right, but I used to right the P18 myself, though it took a bit of finesse.

I also heard that the Nacra 500 is harder to tack. Is that actually a problem or just a little tougher, something to get used to? All comments are appreciated.

EZ

Few comments :

I think your prefered listing is P16, N500, P18 when I look at the describtion of your conditions.

Why ?

-1- the P16 hulls (keel line) cna be reinforced continiously by pouring epoxy in the V-ed kiel line. Also the V-ed keel line will hold up better to hitting a reef or rocks. Skeg boats are just a little more sensitive because of the protruding skeg.

-2- The strong weather will make the P16 a good fast boat. No problems of being underpowered relative to the P18

-3- I gave sailing lessons and skippered payed tours on a P16 with 500 lbs on board. The P16 will take it and not even sail badly. Of course a crew of two is alot better but still I really don't think that the P16 has a "problem" here. Of course the tramp space is getting a little small then (3 adults in my case) but Nacra 500 doesn't have more, only P18 does.

-4- The P16 is seriously lighter than the P18. Something like 30 kg = 66 lbs. This is very welcome when having to lift the boat over any rock outcroppings.

-5- The P16 has relative more righting moment to capsize moment. In a blow the P16 can actually be quite fast and comfortable to sail. It seems relaxed under those conditions more than my Prindle 18 (I owned both boats for several years). Nacra 500 should be the same as the P16 in this respect.

-6- keel wear is easier to repair in the Prindles, because of the V-ed keel lines and the large rocker the damage is always very localized and right on the keel line ridge. If you are really abusive then a layer of small class take with resin will get everything in order again. More rounded hulls and even skegs can present a bigger challenge.

Tacking ? Well none of these are boarded cats but the tacking is alright and comparable on all of them as long as you remember to slack the mainsheet a little in the middle of the tack. You will get the hand of that after a few tries and be comfortable with it.

Wouter

The only boat I can think of that fits ALL of your criteria is the Hobie Wave.

It LOVES wind, so in a windy area like yours you will be able to sail it a much higher percentage of the time than you would any other beach cat.

It's great and safe for singlehanding because it is super-easy to right -- a 90-pound kid can do it. And it has the bob at the top of the mast to keep it from turtling.

It's boomless and boardless, unsinkable, and easy to tack.

It is 240 pounds, which is heavy for its size but probably lighter than the other boats you are looking at.

It will carry that 500 pounds of people weight very easily.

Its seating area (trampoline and decks) is larger than a Hobie 18. (I've measured both to compare.)

It's a great boat for teaching your kids to sail -- in fact, they will probably take it over and you will have to get another one for yourself.

You can add the optional jib kit and the optional spinnaker and the optional trapeze wires if you want to jazz it up. (But it sounds like in your area you don't exactly need more sail area.)

Are there beach resorts in your area (Indonesia, right?) If so, resorts usually have Hobie Waves as rental boats, and you might be able to get a good deal on a used one. If they don't have Waves, convince them they need a bunch of them, so you can get one for yourself out of their container-load.

There is only one big problem with the Hobie Wave. If you are sailing where there are a bunch of other beach cats, when the wind is 25-35 and nobody else wants to take their boats out, they are all going to want to borrow yours.

Or how about a Hobie Get a way, looks like a bigger Wave, with a jib. I don't know what they weigh however it looks like it could easily take the family for a sail. You can put that Hobi Bob thing on the top of the mast to ease the righting.

I've never sailed a Getaway, Tim. I know it is heavier. And I don't think it looks anything at all like a Wave. I don't know whether the Getaway can handle 25-35-knot winds. I do know that the Wave can.

I'm waiting for somebody to sail a Wave across the Atlantic. I have absolutely no doubt that it can be done. If Tinkerbell could do it, the Wave can do it.

My wife wants me to get a used Wave for my 9yr. old daughter, how much is a used Wave these days? I would prefer to get a used Hobie 16 for about $1,000, it has two traps so I can race it with her when it's windy and she can grow into it. Team Child Abuse lives!

I never considered the Wave because it was so small. I'll take a look at them. One plus on the Nacra over the Prindle is the boomless main, unless that's been changed. Not really a problem for me but I worry about the kids.

At least on a f'glass boat I can do repairs myself. No shops nearby and any parts would have to be ordered from CA. Ever hear of any problems on the rotomold boats, like connection points wearing loose? That's the one thing I'd have to look into, but it gives me another option.

Overall, if I didn't have to worry about the boards and launching I'd love to have a larger faster boat. Used to look forward to days where it was really blowin' hard. Loved the speed. Maybe one day when circumstances change.

The P18 probably wouldn't be the best here, with the wind and how fast conditions change it could get out of hand quickly. Even now, it's about 8 am, the wind was dead all morning, now in the last few minutes the trade winds have kicked up and a few white caps are starting show up. The smaller boats won't lack for wind, and I'd rather lean toward being underpowered if anything.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Looks like I couldn't go wrong with any of the smaller boats.