I'm not new to sailing, but I have no experience with either of these cats. Thought I'd put it on the board and see what people think.

I live in the Chicago area and will be sailing the boat in Lake Michigan (really good wind). I'll be solo 70% of the time (I'm 210#), have my son (7 yrs)25% of the time, and a guest maybe the remainder. I wouldn't mind racing some but work will prevent that most of the time.

It has come down to these two boats. I am not considering others.

My concerns:

1. Is the Nacra 500 too small to carry up to 500lbs occasionally and still perform fairly well? Does the Nacra 500 sail well to begin with? I've sailed H16s a lot--does this boat handle weight better?

2. Is the F17 such a go-go machine that it can't be sailed casually? How durable is it? It seems very capable of carrying weight--right or wrong?

Thoughts are welcome. I'd love a test sail, but logistics/time are tough to make a jaunt to the dealer 250 miles away.