Remember, there are as many opinions as sailors. I just switched from a wire halyard (on a wire winch) to HM. I posted a couple of articles about it here
http://l-36.com/articles.php?menu=2 but you probably do not have the constraints of having to have skinny line due to my narrow sheave. But you might find the reading interesting.
And remember as far as shock loads go, my boat is wood. Yours will be stronger.
I tried Regatta braid for my mainsheet and returned it. The stuff snagged on everything. I put teflon tape (called million dollar tape because it is $100 a roll) on absolutely everything near and it still snagged. Some people like it but everyone I know who has tried it abandoned it because of the snagging. I am about to try some Tenex for some jib sheets. It is a single braid like Regatta braid but not so prone to snagging. It has more of the feel of regualr XLS but is a 12 strand so has some of the properties of that. I have not tried it however. I am waiting for some samples of the 7/16 and 1/2 to decide between them. It is also cheap and very strong. It is, however, not marketed to marine at this time.
My recommendation to you on your boat would be to buy a 600 ft roll of 7/16 XLS or Sta-Set and use it for everything. That would be a very tried and true approach.
Allen