ill try to make this detailed but as short as possible:
went to Mexico for a week and ended up sailing around on a hobie wave all week long. caught the small cat bug, and now i HAVE to get one. I liked the wave, but im a little wary of getting one because im 23 and im afraid i will outgrow it too quickly. I like kiteboarding, surfing, long distance ocean kayaking, etc. So i have a feeling that the wave might just be too tame for me after a while.
I have some expierience crewing on larger sailing boats and a week out on that hobie wave. but thats about it. so im pretty close to a beginner but am planning on getting some lessons from experienced friends.
The boat i would want would be something that i could just cruise around in single handed, never wanting to push it to its limits, but when my brother comes to the beach to visit me or when my friends are off work id love to one day do some races or really get it cranking. id say id singlehand it 20% of the time and the rest of the time id have crew aboard.
so is the hobie 16 a good boat for me? Ive found the prices on them to be quite good and there seems to be a lot of parts floating around for them. Is it a boat that can be casually sailed around on a calmer day but also a boat that will grow with my sailing ability? thanks for the help and please chime in with any suggestions!
Yes, yes and yes. You can find other boats in a similar price range and some that may perform marginally better - but for the reasons you state at the end of your post, the H16 is the ultimate starter boat. There are a lot of them around and a lot of people willing to help and share experience. Parts are easy to get. It's one of the easier boats to sail off the beach (especially singlehanded) because it doesn't have daggerboards. Know how, and that you
can, right the boat from a capsize by yourself before you venture out alone.
Do, however, expect to need to do some work on one that you buy cheaply and there are some age related wear/tear specific things to look for on any catamaran and some are specific to certain models and brands. I'll let the other folks here share what to look for when purchasing a used Hobie 16.
