I'm 14 stone, sit in the back of a 12, also sail on a river and my 1982 Crusader is certainly not slowed down by the imbalance of the fat helm and light crew (6 stone).
We have 3 crusaders, 2 design 8's, a final chapter and a couple of foolish's on the river crouch and the crusader/ design 8 is still brilliant for those long short tacks up the river agianst the tide.
Good buy if you can find one.
Simon
I tip the scales at nearer 15 stones than 14 and remain competitive on the river with some good open meeting results to bear thiis out (last year when sailing with around 24-25 stones all up. You're nowhere near too fat!
You can probably find a good Crusader for that sort of budget but you could do equally well with a Cheshire Cat ( I've had 2 in the past and won many river meetings in them), Tiger , Tigress or Pipedream. A Design 8 would be good but you'll probably have to stretch your budget a bit to obtain one. Final Chapters can be rather more difficult to sail quickly on narrow waters.
Happy hunting and let us know how you get on - plenty of people will be happy to give advice. Keep asking.
David
3481
I am 15 stone (95 Kilos) and am still sailing a Tigress (it's all muscle I tell you). My daughter Emma (9 years old) crews with 42 Kilos and we go like "greased whatsit" on the Ammersee, even in light airs. I've even taken out "'er indoors" and still had a very balanced sail with her 67 Kilos, so work it out..... :P.... ;D