Mark,

I purchased a (used) F16 after seriously looking at (used) A cats.

For me, the primary considerations were:
- Cost
- Solo sailing capability
- Light weight boat

Bottom line is I most often sail by myself and need to easily manage the boat on the beach myself. I also was not going to be buying a new boat.

I went with the F16 over an A cat because of its spinnaker. The cost, solo ability, and light weight factors were fairly even between he boats. The A cat almost won me because of the large fleet nearby in Annapolis, and would have won out if I lived there, but I am a recreational racer only making a couple weekend races a year, if that, so the strict class competition was secondary.