:The
: thoughts of Tom Yost himself would be appreciated as well .

I'd prefer to stay out of your decision making process, but since you
asked...I prefer the Sea Rider for it's more lively feel in the water.
In fact, it and the Sonnet are my favorites.

The Sea Rider turns just a little quicker, with tracking, stability, and
rolling about the same as the Sea ranger. I consider both boats to be quite
stable "for their configuration", as do most experienced paddlers who have
built them. Well over 100 Sea Rider's and Sea Ranger's have been completed
in both folding and non folding versions.

With light packing, you could manage an overnight with fore and aft hatches,
and additional storage on the flat aft deck. Make no mistake, these boats
were purpose designed for rolling, day paddling, and exercise... not touring.
There are plenty of other boats in the manual for that purpose.

Buid a Sea Rider and a Sea Tour 15 / 17 EXP and you will have all the bases covered

Tom