Nicole,

The western end of Lake Erie is very shallow and has lots of shoals, so I would stay away from boats with daggerboards / centerboards.

Good, used H-16's are available at a reasonable cost - usually less than $2,000 for boat and trailer. There's a guy in the Detroit Hobie Fleet (www.fleet276.com) that has two boats in decent shape that he needs to part with. Send me a PM and I'll put you in touch with him.

At 107 lbs., you're a H-16 crew to die for. (Minimum total crew weight for racing is 285#; that lets the other person be 178 without carrying weights.) If you're interested, the first event in the season is at Lake Fenton (south of Flint) on April 23,24 - I'm sure we could get you a ride on somebody's boat.

You could also go with a Hobie 14, but the ability to carry more than one of your kids is limited. The 14 really doesn't like more than 200 lbs on the boat. Then again, decent 14's can be had (with trailer) for less than $1,000.

I also have to refute what Catwoman said about the quality of the newer 16's. I've found the newer 16's (1995 > present) to be much better quality that older ones. I have a '98 H-16 that has had no problems and is still at minimum class weight (320#). The factory supplied boats we raced at the Worlds last year in Mexico were even better. Lots of little tweaks to make the boat easier to sail and last longer. Those boats held up really well in 2 weeks of daily use by hard-core racers. Still, $7K - $8K is a lot to pay for a H-16, especially if you're only doing it recreationally.