Different horses, different courses.



A nut shell is nor very big so what else can I add.

Lets me give this a shot.

A-cat : An "all-or-nothing" horse for exclusively singlehanded minded sailors with a noticeably desire to own highly refined catamaran technology and who are content to accept its sensitiveness to trim which is a direct result of being highly developped.

F16 : A fast baseline horse that does nearly everything surprisingly well without being exceptional in any one particular aspect. It is only exceptional in its versatility. In many respects it is halveway between the F18 designs and the A-cat, trying to combine the best of both worlds.

End of nut shell


Some additional comments :

In the way of performance you will find that the A-cats, F18's and F16's are really close together around a race course. Sure enough the A-cat dominates upwind but will loose equally as much on the downwinds. The really light winds favour the A-cat, while the medium and strong winds favour the F18's and F16's. Pretty much as soon as there is enough wind to properly fill the spinnaker the spi boats will move to the front. This is in about 5 to 6 knots and above.

The A-cats have a very good international class with international events. In the way of local events I'm not too impressed. F16 is a young class which is still building herself up. We are small in local fleets and international events by any standard. Having said this, the F16's do seem to be more at home in open class events then the A-cats. You will see F16's do distance (fun) races but not many A-cats.

The F16's require less care then the A-cats although they are no tanks like the Hobie 16 or Hobie 18.

A-cat = 75 kg overall weight
F16 = 107 kg overall weight
Next singlehander = about 135 kg's (I-17 or FX-one) overall weight
F18 = 180 kg overall weight

When singlehanding you really feel the difference of 75 or 107 kg compared to 135 kg and over.



Personally I think F16's are great fun because of their versatility. For me the A-cat is boring; I'm sorry to say that but that is exactly how I feel. It does a few things very well but is unsuited to any use outside of that framework.

I get a real kick out of sailing with a spinnaker, both singlehanding as doublehanding. I love the fact that I can go out sailing my F16 as an A-cat look-a-like in the evenings (just put the mainsail up and go) and then convert it into a full blood doublehanded racer for the weekends (events, club races) by hoisting the jib and spi as well. Note that an F16 in A-cat-setup (only mainsail) will feel much like a pure A-cat; especially the newer F16's like the Blade F16. So for this reason I personally don't feel that I'm missing much.

I really do love the fact that I can switch from doublehanded sailing to singlehanded sailing within 5 minutes (hoisting or lowering the jib and when desired reraking the mast); even at events when a crew either shows up or cancels unexpectly. I can take anybody along that I want to by just going as a selftacking sloop rig without rigging the spinnaker. Total novice as crew ? No problem, the selftacker takes care of that part. Experienced crew ? Time to do some spinnaker action !

I also really appreciate the fact that both setups, solo and doublehanded are equally competitive against the F18's and A's. I love the fact that the F16's share several important design principles with the A-cats while staying relatively inexpensive. I also love the fact that the F16's are so comparable to the F18's in the performance and feel/appearence; making all my open class and club racing alot more enjoyable. In addition it allows me to do distance races and fun races.

Sure; when rigged the same as an A-cat (only a mainsail) the F16 is close to an A-cat with the A-cat having a definite edge both in pointing and speed. But the F16 is still second best in the setup when including all other designs for singlehanded sailors. Now put a spinnaker on the F16 and things start to change, the A's will now be working hard to stay in front and you have just extended your enjoyment of the F16 boat. Now add the possibility of adding crew and jib and go head to head with F18's or do distance races and you have just passed into a realm where the A-cat simply can not follow. Sure a nacra I-20 will eat the F16 up in a distance race, but the I-20 in its turn can't follow the F16 into the singlehander realm.

Like the way I started; the F16 is not an exceptional design in any particular aspect but it is surprisingly good in nearly all aspects making it an extremely versatile design that will allow you to enjoy cat sailing at a high level in any given setup.

But Pete, the best comment (advice) I can give you is to just get a test ride on one of VectorWorks Marine Blade F16's. Probably Chuck Harnden is close to you now; otherwise Matt from Vectorwork has been willing in the past to do a test ride. Just grasp that chance and see for yourself what the F16 can do. Don't take my word for it.

Mind you with the 2007 Alter Cup boats being Blade F16's you may just get a good deal on one of you are willing to wait a year.

Here is some extra info on an earlier test ride if you are interested.

Blade F16 test sail report


I hope this helps

Wouter