Mary,

I don't actually believe that ANY catamaran is a 'piece of {censored}'. All catamarans have some virtue, even if it is only that it is a more stable platform than a dinghy. I also don't believe that I was being derogatory about the Dart 16 (at least that was NOT the intent), instead I was being positive about the new Twincat. I am assuming that as a result of using Twintex the new boat will be everything that the Dart 16 could be if it wasn't rotomoulded. It is my personal opinion only and I'm sure that there are many people who think I'm mad to have bought a rotomoulded Hobie Twixxy - but it suits my purposes as a bullet proof training boat for my kids.

If a Twixxy was built from anything other than rotomoulded plastic, it would IMO be a 'better boat' BUT it then wouldn't necessarily be suitable for my purposes. If bumper car sturdiness was my requirement then I'd go for the Dart 16 over the Twincat, but for that type of boat it wouldn't be.

You're right that perhaps 'better boat' in the context of my original post was probably too vague. That's the problem of communicating via this medium - we've had many misunderstandings on this forum before, resulting in offence being taken where none was intended.

Once again I'll state that I actually like the Dart 16, I just felt that the Twincat will address the one area where I felt disappointed (and but for which I might well have bought a Dart 16 at the London Boat Show in 2004). Aren't ALL the posts on this forum just the personal opinion of the poster?

BTW, I don't quite understand the comment about the separate H16 forum? I never have, or would, disparage the H16. I had some of my first sails in big waves on a H16 and I have nothing but fond memories of the boat (even the capsizing ) Are you saying that H16 sailors EXPECT disparaging remarks from the cat sailing fraternity? This comes back to my comment on the ISAF thread that we are demonstrating how fragmented we are and that is NOT GOOD.

Finally therefore to all or any Dart sailors out there who took exception to my comment, I apologise, there was no offence intended..........