[Nathans_Dad]

I was out with our Boy Scout troop this weekend and one of the adults brought along a Hobie Wave catamaran. It only had a mainsail, no jib or anything but I had a blast sailing it. Now I have the bug to get myself a small sailboat to take the kids out on.

I used to sail a decent amount with my dad when I was in high school, we had a 23 foot Hunter cabin cruiser type boat and we raced it for a few years on the local lakes. Then I went to college and he moved out to Virginia where he sold the 23 foot boat and went in with another guy on a 42 footer that he kept on the Chesapeake Bay for several years. I did sail in one race with him on that boat as well. I hadn't set foot on a sailboat for about 15 years until this weekend.

Anyhow, I have fairly young kids (11, 9, 7 and 5) and am really just looking for a small daysail type boat that I can teach the kids how to sail when they get old enough. I figure the older three are probably ok to at least be on the boat with the 11 and 9 year old probably old enough to start to learn to sail. My wife is admittedly not a boat or water person much although she did say she would sail with me from time to time (after she got done rolling her eyes when I told her I wanted a sailboat, lol).

So, I'm thinking of a small monohull or catamaran. I want something I could sail solo and go fast but also could tame down for the kids. I like the idea of a Hobie 16 or similar catamaran but also wonder about the one design type monohulls.

Budget is $1500-2000 or less ready to sail with trailer.

Any ideas or thoughts?