Janus took me 730 hrs to build from raw material with diy tools. I build alone - my wife keeps the house in order. This includes painting and also building the trailer which took 70 hrs to build. In other words this is to sail-away stage. That is 1 hour per centimeter on the boat.
Our reasons for building Janus was:
Plans are cheaper. More money for ply.
Easy hulls to build and support.
Wanted maximum deck space for our sunny Australian weather.
Wanted beds to be able to be slept in when we tow, without taking her off the trailer.
Daggerboards
No proprietary stuff or patented nonsense
Raked stem
Engine as close to midship as possible. 360 deg rotating.
Protection for the family if we get caught out in less than perfect conditions. (Most of our sailing is done within 40nm of the shore.)
Beachable at any time.
Light as possible.
Faster than a mono
Flat transom
Ply - (like the fact that all of the timber gets used when making ply sheets)
Ply - still a high tech material. It is just mould producers that knock it.
Trailer had to serve dual purpose if need be. Flatbed. Can actualy place 8m lengths of steel on it - not too mention timber in full lengths.
Would I go with the wizard now that it has a ply version - perhaps. The only thing that gets to me about the wizard is the fact that everything in the hulls is turned topsy turvy when shipping to trailer. What I like about the wizard is the fact that the heads can be private from the living area in the hull. Janus with cuddy is my solution. I am building one currently from foam. See Richard's additional plans sections.
I could have saved hours by using aluminium beams. Not filleting all stringers and corners. Not making alterations. Bought my hatches. Had the bulkheads CNC routed, and had a shed that could take both hulls at once, fully seperated. Not having to pack and unpack tools from the shed (I worked outside with only space for one hull at a time). Had a second person to help me (Even cleaning up takes time).
Hope this helps
Regards
John H