Fast and Cheap

[JohnJM]

Here is my situation. I am living in Denver and supporting my wife while she is in grad school. We went back to Long Island for the summer and got invited to sail with a family friend whom I had crewed for back in the 80''s. The first time out was a wensday night non-spiny race, it blew 25 and my wife loved it. The fact that we spanked''em didn''t hurt. The second time we cruised from Port Jeff to Montauk on a typical LI Sound fluky day, not nearly as fun, but still great to be on the water. So now I am allowed to get a boat.
Here are my criteria.
1 cheap! My wife is in school and I am a ski instructor. 2 grand max. Less is better budgeting in repairs.
2 Small enough to trailor behind an old(91) Subaru
3 Fun. I would like something that planes, hopefuly with a spiny.
4 Fiberglass. I don''t have the space to store or work on it indoors. And while I enjoy working os boats don''t know if I will have the time to devote to wood.
5 together we weigh 280 pounds. While I don''t think we have to weigh in at the average of the last 10 class world champs I do think it is important to be able to balance the boat.
I know that my final desicion will come down to the best physical integrity that will fit into my needs and wants. On the local sailing links see 505''s and Fireballs. Any thoughts on these or others I should look out for would be greatly appreciated.
John

[mikecook]

If you are interested in class racing - follow the herd with what they sail locally. If it is more relaxed - and you want to keep it cheap - look for an old Y Flyer - fast enough to race, pretty as a picture and with a big enough cockpit to picnic in