Looking to purchase small boat for myself and my 6 year old.

[lakedude]

Hi I'm a former Banshee owner looking to get back into sailing. We have a house on a lake with a dock. Access is limited to the dock only, not the surrounding shoreline.

Looking at a Super Snark (largely unavailable), Open Bic, Topaz Taz (or possibly the next bigger model, and the Hobie Bravo.

The Snark would be my first choice (barring new information) because it is inexpensive and I could carry it on my head and launch from our dock with no trailer required. Unfortunately I can not find one ianywhere.

The Taz and later the Bic caught my eye. 2 of us might be able to muscle these things down to the dock with no trailer required. I like self bailing feature. Not sure if any of these boats are big enough for me (200lbs) and my son (50lbs).

The Bravo is interesting because it appears to be very easy to rig and reef. Lacking a boom seems to be a good safety feature. Don't want to clock my son in the head with a boom.

I really liked my Banshee but it was hard to step the mast with the wind blowing. The Banshee had a sleeved sail with a sock top so it was impossible to jam the mast with the sail installed into the hole in a breeze. One had to tip the boat up sideways to get the mast stepped. Looking for a boat that is easier to rig than that.

The next bigger Topaz boat, the Uno comes in several configurations the cheapest is said to have a sleeved sail but what the more expensive models use is a bit of a mystery. The same pictures seem to be used on all the models. I want to avoid sleeved sails that are sealed at the top like the Banshee.

Please discuss! If this post would be better somewhere else please let me know. Thanks for the help in advance.

[lakedude]

I'm getting the sense that this forum is for bigger boats than I'll ever be able to afford. If this is true you might as well remove me from your rolls. I'm not upset or anything like that. It looks like I just made an honest mistake. If someone dies and leaves me a mess of cash I'll sign up again...

Most likely with a new username, like "LOADED-(thanks uncle Bob}".