[quote=Dogboy]Sounds like a 16 is probably the boat of choice however you didn't mention overall crew weight. An 18 would also be worth considering if you're sailing with larger people or want to sail with more than two people. The 16, 17, and 18 are all built to withstand sailing in the surf and beach landings. The 16 is the easiest logistically because the assymetrical hulls mean no dagger boards to worry about however the 16 does have its drawbacks as well. It has low volume hulls and not much bouyancy so you're really limited to about 350lbs max crew weight. The 16 is also very sensitive to pitchpoling and blowing over backwards in a strong breeze (although to a lesser extent than your 14). A 17 sport can carry about the same weight as a 16. The hulls are higher volume but the tramp is lower so it will hit waves in strong breeze making for a wet ride. The wings make up for this to some extent. The centerboards on the 17 are designed to retract automatically when you hit the beach, but the drawback is that they can get jammed with sand and pebbles if dragged over the beach. The 18 is a very rugged, high volume boat that is fully capable of being launched from the beach. Its the biggest and heaviest of all three choices and is best handled by two or more adults. The dagger boards on the 18 make beaching a little trickier, but with a little practice operating the boards becomes second nature. Max crew weight on the 18 is realistically around 400 to 450 lbs.
sm<!-- editby --><em>Edited by Dogboy on Feb 23, 2014 - 06:06 PM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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