Since this is the Hobie 16 / 14 forum, and the question was specifically regarding the Hobie 16, my reference to "nobody" specifically meant the Hobie 16.

Even in the lightest of airs, the Hobie 16 will make better VMG downwind when it is sailed with the apparent wind at 90 to 100 degrees.

You can sail wing-and-wing and the battens in the jib do an effective job of holding the sail out.

The Hobie 14 is a whole different story. From the lightest of airs to nearly nuclear, it goes fastest dead downwind.