SandS, you suggest, build-in ballast is better, well I have that / in fact Aquarius has 650kg of it/ boat like that you can take anywhere. I still believe for Qld is much better
type Sonata, one foot draft or beach it, if you like. I am still thinking swop it for beachable boat. What local guys say "why you need dingy if you have Sonata".
I have owned 4 trailer sailers and any of them could do what you plan. The limiting factor is your experience. I had lots of dramas in the early days of a lifetime of learning to sail. These days the dramas seem much more manageable due to experience. I would definitely go a mono trailerable. It will be slower than a cat but you can carry more gear and you will need less. You have your bed,your table,water tanks,sink,lighting,shelter etc etc. You will also travel more comfortably as you should be dryer and more sheltered. Every time I have sailed cats I have been bloody wet and often cold. You are then under pressure to get ashore to dry out and get warm. In a mono if you can find some shelter you can drop the pick, climb into the cabin and warm up with the metho stove cooking a feed and a cuppa. Even if its a bit bouncy its better than risking running the surf in a cat. I know of a few trailerables that have sunk, all of them have been ruuning downwind with storm boards out. The bow goes down and the following wave swamps the boat. Rl 24s are notorious for this and dont have the righting moment. Most designs have reasonable righting moment but check it out. Some of the boats that have a reputation as race boats are the best. I have a Ross 780 and find it the easiest boat to sail short handed as it only needs the main up if there is a bit of breeze and its realy easy and fast to sail. I was recently sailing from the top of Fraser Island back to Hervey bay. My 14 year old son was asleep down below and we were getting hit with gusts I estimate were 25 to 30 knots. I hadthe full main up on a tight reach and I just ran of in the gusts rather than wake the not so attentive crew. It was a really nice sail and we were hitting 12 knots at times in the gusts. I have had the mast hit the drink a few times when racing and it just bounces back up. Iwould be much more confident with this cenario than a cat upside down on a remote section of coast. Whatever mono you get I would want self righting and a self draining cockpit and would fit internal bouyancy if it doesnt have it. Some of the earlier boats like the boomerang 20, investigater, cole19 are realy solid safe little boats. The hartley 16 would be great if you can get a self draining glass one but ply ones arent self draing. They are a great little boat and you might get away with it if you make sure there is adequate floatation built in to the hull. I will be interested to seewhat you end up with.
