Brad wrote:

The main reason that I am looking at the various options, is because I
have a spinal disease that prevents me from pulling, lifting, tugging,
etc. on anything more than about 10 pounds. I can get around on a
boat okay, but these other limitations require me to check out all
options.

Besides the good points brought by most others to your questions, I'd
like you to consider the "heavy seas" issue.

Yesterday looked like a nice day for a sail. Only after we left the
harbor in our 23 ft sailboat, we realized that the waves were a lot
bigger that we tought, 6-8 feet and very close to each other. I got
tossed around in the cockpit enough to come back with a back-ache.

I certainly exerted more than 10 lb. of effort just by holding myself,
probably more than 10 times that.

You might want to consider sailing in a protected area, such as a lake
or a bay, without much wind fetch.