Hi Giles, More thoughts: With an M15 or M17 hooked up to your car, you can be in Maine, Lake Huron, Florida Keys, or lots of other interesting sailing areas in a matter of hours. Try that with your Vancouver 25. You don't need a Marina to keep the small boat, and pay yearly Marina fees. The downside, of course is that you only have sitting headroom in the M17 cabin. Bigger is more luxurious =s more stuff that goes on board and has to be removed at the end of the season. We used to laugh and say emptying out our 29 footer at the end of the season, was the equivalent of moving a three room apartment. It's the old tradeoffs all over again: smaller is very mobile = limited interior comfort but low costs and expenses more comfort = larger with less mobility and higher costs (dockage / hauling charges) The better you can define your planned uses for the boat; areas where you want to sail; the closer to the ideal solution you get. Happy planning and dreaming. Connie