first of all get use to the fact that your 16 is not going to point like a laser .pointing is not the strength of a 16.But lasers and hobie 16,s (I own each) will point different under different conditions.A laser when you can go block to block (10+ knots of wind)should be able to point higher then 45 degrees.Similarly with a 16 once the wind gets up and the water is fairly flat you should be pointing higher than 60 degrees.the big thing on the 16 is make sure you have lots of mainsheet tension you want to bend that mast and flatten that sail.unlike the laser where to go up wind you can get away with pinching the 16 you need to foot off for speed then work up to bleed off the speed .It takes a lot of finness and concentration to drive the 16 upwind,The other thing with the 16 is do not get so caught up with how high you point .I was at the nationals one year and rounded the leward mark with the leader I was out pointing him while he footed off and went for speed. He ended up easily beating me to the weather mark. Pointing is all relaitive to the type of bost you are sailing. The laser will point higher but a 16 will easily beat it to the weather mark. If you want a boat that points pick yourself up an old 12 meter a america's cup boat that will point 30 degrees from the true wind and for a million dollars you end up with a boat whose top speed is 8 to 10 knots.