On the whole Hobie 16 youth boat issue, I think that boat has probably turned many mono sailors away from cats, as it did me. Back in the late 70's I was racing 505's, every time I saw a H16 it was either upside down or just reaching back and forth. I guess the sailors I saw were not too good because we had no trouble passing them upwind and down.

It was not until many years later (1996?) that I got a ride on a Hobie 20, then I found out what a catamaran could be. And once I got a hold of a spinnaker cat, well, that was it. Good bye monohulls forever! But that was just a few years ago, and the Hobie 16 has been around for what, 30+ years? It's a great boat when it's blowing 20 but how often is that?

The complaint I hear from kids on the 16 is, "It's hard to tack..." Yeah, well you have to learn how to do it!

On the upside, there are lots of H16's everywhere you look. It shouldn't be too hard to get one into a kid's program. On the downside, most of the Opti kids and instructors don't know how to rig or sail them.

I was at a US Sailing Center with my kids last summer, there were 3 Hobie 16's sitting in the grass, the 50 kids were out sailing Optis, Lasers and 420's. When I asked why no kids were sailing the Hobies, the adult said, "Nobody knows how..." I offerd to show them, they said no thanks. I asked if I could rent one and sail it with my kids, they said no.

Nice way to get people involved. Way to go US Sailing. You wonder why it's dying? That's why.