Good advice! The H16 was my first sailboat as well and I just started racing it this summer.

Some more advice:
Don't forget to use your mast step link.
At the last regatta I was at I watched the guys with a H17 next to me forget to use the step link and they almost dropped the mast. I was laughing a little and wondering how someone could forget to use it and sure enough when I went to drop my mast I forgot to use it, luckily I caught it in time.