What Dinghy to buy

I agree with almost all of this, but you shouldn't rule out a Finn, which doesn't have to be high performance or high spec and would actually be pretty much the best boat for you, a deep cockpit single floor phantom which will have a comfy thwart to sit on, and, if you can find one, a megabyte, which would be perfect for you - like a Finn, but easier.  You really DO need to take account of your size and weight and a get a boat to suit, otherwise you will be uncomfortable and put off and eventually stop sailing, which would be tragic.  Try to get a test sail in all of these boats before you buy one so you can work out what suits you, don't just buy on spec.

Hey, that's not bigoted advice, my pal is four years older than me, similar weight and he sails a Phantom and is also relatively inexperienced, although he did spend some time in a Supernova, another better choice than a bloody Solo what is it with you people and Solo's? They are not even a nice boat ffs. The only reason given for using them is because there are lots of other retarded folk being sold the 'oh it's got a class we can all race together' bollox.

The Phantom is a great weight carrier it's a relatively easy boat to sail, stable, fast, performs well, what's not to like?

Or a GP I sail my geep single handed and my father used to put a suit of old gull sails on to take the grandchildren out in.

here's a left field idea:

WETA