Hobie 16s are very cheap and abundant. They also have the most sail area of the older 16' designs. Unfortunately, they also have about the worst hull shape of the older 16' designs. Those tiny hulls do not have a lot of floatation too them and are prone to pitchpole (nose-dive underwater) in heavy conditions. A Hobie 16 was my first catamaran, and it served me well enough to learn sailing (I was 15, about 130lbs at the time, and rigged and sailed solo most often), however I would not own another one.

I would suggest a Prindle 16, any of the 16' Nacras, a G-Cat 5M, or a Hobie 17.

Any catamaran can be fitted with a roller-furling jib. It will cost you a roller furling system and a new jib. Also, any mainsail can be fitted with reefing points if you find you truly need them. I'm 150lbs now, sail an 18' G-Cat, and have soloed in 15-20knot winds under main alone, wishing all the while that I had a smaller sail up. That's another thing you can do- get a smaller mainsail for when the wind is really cranking. You could put a H14 sail up for when the wind is really blowing. As a beginner, I would simply suggest not sailing in conditions that would require switching to smaller/reefed sails, though on a lake it may not be too bad. As to righting systems, the Solo~Right will allow you to right any of the boats you can afford with only one person.

*IF* you plan on doing all of your sailing solo, I'd highly recomend reading the posts in the Formula 14 forum. For $3k you might get a used Mystere 4.3, or put together a H14 Maxi.

Also, check your private messages- that symbol to the left of the "main index" link near the top of your screen, or the "My Home" link up there as well.