Don't even think about it! PLEASE follow my advice above. Your boat is not the issue-YOU and your lack of experience are. A boom and a qualified instructor are a must. By qualified I only feel it needs to be an experienced barefooter. I've had some people pick it up in 5 minutes, and others take a whole season. Don't go rusdhing into things. You are not Superman.
Basman, don't think I'm ripping on you. I'm just trying to make you understand and make your experience fun and rewarding. Seriously, go to barefootcentral dot com, and on the upper left of the page, there is a "locate a footer" icon. Click there and then click north america, then usa, then michigan. You'll find other footers in your area. Shoot them an email. Most of us footers are always willing to help someone learn. Just tell them you don'yt want to pay a pro and you just need help with proper techniques. I'd be happy to help you, but MI is a little far from MN. If you're really wanting to learn, maybe you could come to the WI MN get together at Lake Petenwell July 7th weekend. I'll have my boat and would be glad to give you some free lessons.
Here's a link to the get together thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=20;gtid=1234111