[quote=BboatB][quote=rpiper138]I have a 5.5, so I am a little biased. Before I bought the 5.5, I looked at the 6.0. Way too much boat for single handing or 2up with a smallish crew.
My 5.5 is a 2001 uni with a carbon mast. I am 185 lbs and have no problem moving the boat around the beach or righting it by myself.
Rigging takes about 45 minutes, but I remove everything but the tramp for transport. About 95% of the rigging is done solo, but I do need a helper to pull on the trap handle to get the bridles attached properly. The need for the second person could be replaced with a set of shroud de-tensioners.
I lift the mast into position with the shrouds attached and set to the desired rake for the conditions. I don't think that you can just muscle the aluminum spar up by yourself (unless you are much stronger than me(not hard)). The carbon spar is only about 35 lbs, but is expensive to replace if you break it. Make sure that you get mast insurance if you buy a boat with a carbon fiber mast.
When sailing.......
Large volume hulls mean crew weight is not an issue, but breaking through surf can be.
This boat is a handful when sailing solo in wind above 15 knots. That being said, it is fast. I use a wrist mounted gps for heading and speed and the highest that I have seen it read is 22.1 knots. It may have read higher, but I more important things to do than look at my wrist at that point.
The carbon spar makes the boat a little faster than the aluminum masted couterparts and makes righting very easy.
The uni rig will also out point most sloop rigged boats.
Later boats had some advantages over early boats, the least of which is weight. Early boats weighted around 375 lbs (rigged) and had a plug type transom. The plug transom had some problems and was replaced. This may be the reason that newer boats weigh in around 340 lbs. The newer boats also have bridle wire plates attached to the inside of the hulls instead of the outside. This is important if you choose to run a spinnaker as the bridle foil is too short for the older boats and puts additional pressure on the hulls.
There are several variants of the 5.5. As a less experienced person who only weighs in the 180 range, I would stick to the 5.5 uni (172 square feet of main) or sl. The Max is similar to the uni, but carries more sail. The 18sq is a 5.5 with an 11 foot beam and 20 more square feet of sail. The extra beam and sail bring extra challenges.
Sorry for the long post, but it may help you to avoid some problems if you do decide to go with the 5.5.
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Nothing is to long;),thx!
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