I would recomend against the H16. They don't have much bouyancy in the hulls, the pedestal trampoline design introduces tons of hull-walking. It's what I bought for my first boat and I grew out of it in about 6 months and moved up to an 18' boat.
I'd recomend a Prindle 16, Trac 16, G-Cat 5.0, or Hobie 17. Something boardless and sturdy that can take some abuse. All of the systems on these boats are fairly simple and easy to use and understand. The G-Cat is my favorite boat for it's dual trampolines and high-volume hulls.
How can you intimate that an H16 is not sturdy? Those things are tanks. The rocks get out of my way when they see me coming. And no bouyancy? The thing floats when the hulls are full of water.
An H16 is a great starter boat and a great boat to continue on with. I think the big thing really depends on what you are going to be doing and how much $$ you want to spend.
The H16 is a smaller boat and you may grow out of it soon, then again some of the best sailors I know use and H16. In addition, you can't get very hurt by buying a used H16 if you decide you don't want to own a boat. They are very easy to sell and you should be able to get your initial investment out of it.
