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[quote=texastuma][quote=tarch]Morning all

I have been sailing a monohull for a year or so. Looking to get a cat :-)

I am looking to get one that is ok for 3 adults at least, not too frightening for someone new and reasonable enough to not outgrow too soon. I know it is hard to give advise without knowing my skills.

I have a mystere 5.5, a prindle 18, a prindle 19, a prindle escape 18 near me on the market place for around 2-3k.

I am liking the idea of Mystere apart from cool name, because of center boards, thinking it might tack better - lay guess, not a fact.

I like the look of prindle 19 but might be too much for me. Can any of them be sailed with reefed sail so that I can keep training wheels so to speak?

Any suggestions or guidance gladly taken.

Thanks[/quote]

With starting out, I would agree with the 18 Escape; mainly because of the smaller sail plan. I started catamarans on a Nacra 5.8 and Tornado.. But, I had been racing with my family for a good decade previously. The P18 is also a good boat for starting out and one that you can run for quite a while. I currently race against a very competitive P18 and he has no problem tacking. With all cats, it's all in the technique (ease about an armlengh of mainsheet during the tack). The 19 is a nice boat, but the bows are not forgiving when they bury. I had a 19 from 1990 to 2008 and currently have a modified 18-2. In breeze over 18, you need to stay on your toes with the flat decks. The P18 has more forgiveness with the more rounded decks as with the Mystere. The dagger boards are nice on the Mystere, but you will have constant maintenance with the centerboard trunks. On my Nacra 5.8 and 6.0, it was a constant battle with leaks. They sail much better to windward, but it has a tradeoff. Obviously, the P18 and Escape will not sail to windward as well as a boarded boat, but in 3-8 knots of wind, the P18 is hard to shake off. Sailing on/off the beach without boards is very nice. I think the biggest challenge you will have with the Prindles is the rudder system. I got rid of the locking system in 1991 and built a line pull down system. Typically, the horizontal bolt to lock into gets bent. It is not a hard fix, 1/4" hex bolt, and I recommend replacing this bolt before you even go sailing. These rudders will frustrate the hell out of ya.[/quote]

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