Hi,
After sailing a Laser for a few years I am looking at getting a beach catamaran for more speed and excitement with the ability to sail solo or with a friends in both light and heavy winds. There is no racing or local fleets on my lake in Montana, so it will be mostly for "fun." Initially I was planning on getting a used Hobie 16 because of the price and availability to learn solo trapezing and the basics of cat sailing. After combing the internet and talking to some local sailors I am concerned that this will be a dated pitch pole torture device that can't point or tack and is bad in light winds.
Since then I started looking hard at F16's. I'm attracted by more modern hull designs and the flexibility to rig it with a main, main+spinnaker, and main+jib+spin. There does seem to be an opinion that the boat isn't actually that good at solo sailing and is too much of a handful solo when the winds gets "up." Just curios what everyone opinion was on this. Is it only a handful if raced solo, and can be cruised under the main only during big winds easily? Or should I be looking at something else (Nacra 5.0 or 5.2, Prindle 16's, A-cat, another look at a Hobie 16, etc...)
Thanks everyone.