Bonjour Marc!
Sorry to hear about your difficulty finding a First 25 to look at. Its clear that at first only the biggest dealers are taking one on speculation. But they are selling, which is good. Its an odd size for Beneteau dealers who have gotten used to starting at 31 feet... The 25 is almost as much work to sell but they make much less. And like any salesperson, they will often try and talk you into whatever boat they have sitting at the yard. I assume that has been your experience.
Our First 260 (same boat) is on a trailer. We move it from storage to the club each year. We could go on trips but do not.... that's just us not wanting to re-rig.... its a big job, but doable.
The fixed keel boats are very nice but the lifting keel has unique advantages.... in skinny waters of the great lakes (or inland lakes) she can go into anchorages and harbors off limits to deeper boats. With the water levels on Lake Michigan, I suspect Karma has thought twice about the choice of stocking a fixed keel. But of course the lifting keel cost more, and then you have to factor the trailer into what is already an expensive (+US$90K) boat.
All and all we love it and are very happy to see them in North America... happy to not be the only one on the continent! If you come to Minneapolis you can have a sail on ours!
Some pix from the boat show