[Jeff_H]

It is not that you can''t sail small boats in the ocean. These are after all ''beach boats'' but whether the pico makes sense depends on where you are sailing. There is ocean and then there is OCEAN. There is a big diference in sailing off the beach at some place like Miami (almost no waves most of the time) and some place like Hatteras or Malibu which is supposed to have pretty good surf.

The Pico is not my idea of a surf boat and launching in surf takes a specialized set of skills. I don''t know of a school that teaches launching in surf skills. Launching in bigger surf can be quite dangerous as the combination of wind and waves can push the boat back over you breaking limbs. But even launching in small waves can be tricky.

Jeff