Well, they are very well made boats and quite fast
for a simple rig. Set up is a breeze, drop the masts in the step, attach the
booms and unroll the sails from the masts as much or as little as you need. The
lee-board boats are most common and roomier than the center board version. The
ride can be a little wet in stronger wind since there is no real cabin to hide
behind and free board is low. They are quite tender, even with the water
ballast, until heeled over a ways then they are steady as a rock even if you
slide over to leeward. If you do knock one down the forward cockpit cover or the
cabin had best be in place as they ride very low in the water when swamped. I
kept a 48" inflatable white water canoe float under the aft cockpit to make
recovery easier. They are nice for one and ok for a couple with the convertible
cabin up for a bug free night in safe shallow water and they will carry a LOT of
gear. Once I retire I plan on spending too much time on the water to not have a
hard cabin and I think I will roam far enough that I will feel more secure
with the more sea worthy M-17. For the week ender, day sailor they are perfect,
especially for the skinny water of FL and the Gulf in general. For more info.
try:
http://www.ij.net/wctss/wctss/index.htm and http://www.marine-concepts.com/ and the sea pearl group at yahoo: http://www.egroups.com/group/seapearl. I went from
a Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser to the Pearl and the Pearl was so easy to set up that I
was much more inclined to go for a sail on short notice. If I could have two
sail boats, I'd have a Pearl and a M-17. There are a couple of trimaran
versions of the Sea Pearl 21 and there is a 28' version with more amenities as
well as the Rob Roy 23 which is a nice canoe stern yawl or ketch by Ted
Brewer built by Marine Concepts in Tarpon Springs, FL.