Todd,
<br>At what age did you start sailing the 16? As crew, skipper or both? What was the age of your skipper/crew? When I think of youth sailing I think of the range from absolute beginner at maybe 10 years old or so through adult. There's room for a range of boats for kids to move up in steps. Some may move up sooner as skills improve. My suggestion was to use the 14 like the Laser, which is singlehanded. You're right - the 14 stinks as a two person boat. I would not suggest that even with the turbo set up. But, in our area, kids seem to learn on singlehanded boats from optis to Lasers and then move on to two person boats. Most likely so that at an early age everyone gets to drive and learn boat handling - which I think is a good idea (everybody gets tiller time) that should be carried over to cats. In the dinghy world, there seem to be a good number of kids under 95 pounds that can sail on their own (at least in optis).
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<br>The 14 can be difficult, which is why I would not suggest it for the earliest age of sailors. A good intermediate boat before moving to the 16 and as a singlehanded trainer for honing skills, again, in the similar way the Laser is used in youth sailing (and beyond in the dinghy world). And I still believe if you learn to handle to the 14 right you'll have developed a great feel for sailing cats that can apply to any boat you sail. So, I'm not saying replace the 16 with the 14 as a youth boat, I'm saying it would be good to use it as a stepping stone for younger youth sailors to move up to the 16.
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<br>Just some thoughts.<br><br>Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
<br>H-18
<br>Northstar 500 (monoslug)
<br>WRCRA - www.wrcra.org