Flop:
I think you may be out of luck asking this forum about this boat. I think that the boat you are looking at is a Hobie Fox (
http://www.hobie-cat.net/site_gb/?produits,hobie_fox) made in France. Inverted bows and a spinnaker? That is a class of Formula 20s. Not the same boat as a Miracle. They are really popular in Europe but the only ones that are really active in the US are Inter 20s.
There was a really nice group of them in CA for a while. Six total I think. I sailed on them a bit. They are a really good boat for bigger guys. I was able to crew on one at over 400lbs total crew weight and win. It floats really well and is pretty fast downwind with the chute up.
I think that the guys here put it through its paces and there was not major problem with the boat if there was no boat contact. Seems to be built well. There was an agreement to get all the sailors on the same boat and the Tiger was picked. Now we have about 28 boats in the area including all Formula 18s. At most regattas we will get between 10 and 18 on the line.
If you can use a boat like the Fox I think that 5600 US is a great price! I do not know of any that sold that cheap around here. I think the lowest amount was around 8000 US. Most of them were in pretty good shape. You can probably find a used spinnaker or get one made for not too much (800 US). Why are you not getting back into the Formula 18s?
Later,
Dan
DDelave "@" aol.com