I can't understate this enough, the ENTIRE reason I got interested in sailing was because I watched the America's Cup on TV back when it was still in Newport and I was in junior high. The type of boat made absolutely no difference to me at that point, because I had no family experience with sailing, etc., I just wanted to get on the water.

I have no idea what it was called, but the first boat I sailed on was a small wooden mono at Boy Scout camp. It wasn't an Opti, it had a triangular mainsail (no jib) and could hold two teenage kids.

I sailed on a 420 briefly (OK, once) in college in upstate NY. It was a day to let freshmen try out different clubs. The a-hole club member on the boat with me didn't let me touch ANYTHING. Needless to say, I never went back.

A few years later, at my second college, I was in Newport and there was a waiting list for the sailing class, and for the sailing team. I decided to buy a boat. I had a roommate who had previously re-glassed a Laser, so I bought what I was told was a Hobie 16 for $300.

This was a wooden Hobie 16, and I didn't find out my (now obvious) mistake until the money was spent. I proceeded to waste several hundred more dollars and made a huge mess in the garage, and the boat never saw the water.

Eventually, I just broke down and bought a real Hobie 16 (a 1983), probably around 1991.

Boats I've owned:

1983 H16 (yellow, destroyed by Coast Guard, another long story)
1983 H16 (blue, first cat I raced, got totally bitten by the bug)
1997 H16 (BRU Cat)
2001 H16
2006 H16

I've also sailed on H17, TheMightyHobie18, H18SX, H20, N6.0, M6.0, and even a J24. I don't like any of them more than the H16. The spinnaker experience on the H18SX scared the daylights out of me, because we couldn't see around the sail...

Mike