I've been leaning more and more toward a monohull dinghy. I've looked a
little at the 505, and like the idea of having a boat I can progress with up
to spinnaker sailing. How is the 505 for singlehanding? I also understand
the dilemma which you mention, I drive a Miata, which has made driving fun
again, and my truck doesn't even get started anymore, despite it's greater
utility. Although the addition of a small boat will motivate me to drive it
again. ;-)

Does anyone have an opinion about the Fusion 15? I was just reading about it
in Sailing World. Sounds like it could be a good first rig as well

wrote:
| I would definitively start with a monohull dinghy.
|
| I regularly sail both Lasers and Albacores (small sloop rigged, center
| board, 2 sail dinghy).
|
| The Laser is a great and very fun boat to sail. It is also a somewhat
| simplified boat, meaning that you only have a main sail and limited
| controls. While I do love to sail the laser, and it is a great and
| unforgving master, for somebody planning to move to something bigger I
| would recomend another boat.
|
| The Albacore, the other dinghy I sail, its actually the boat that is
| used by many sail clubs in Lake Ontario as a teaching boat. You can
| check my old club website for photos and training material.
| www.sailtoronto.com. The Albacore is a great beginers boat. You have
| two sails, so you learn about main and jib, plus you also have most
| other sail controls. Another advantage is that there seems to be an
| active racing fleet in most large north american cities.
|
| The drawback is that it does not have a spinaker, which you may want
| to lear to use once you reach an intermediate level. For spinaker
| dinghys, I like the 505, which also has a trapeze...but that is more
| for the trill seekers....
|
| Ah, a last warning, I heard of many sailors who had a plan like yours,
| and learn to sail dinghys..just to discover that they loved the small
| boats and preferred them to cruisers...the way somebody once described
| was..."the difference between driving a convertible and a winnebago."
| Mind you, the winnebago goes on longer trips to nicer places
| though....