As has already been said, I think there's a singlehander for everyone, but I will say a few words on why I really like the F16. I like sailing with other people - there's nothing like having two people on the wire in a decent breeze - but finding two people who are equally committed to sailing is tough, and it always has been. I crewed on an F18 for the last few years. I really like the boats and the extremely competitive circuit. Sure, they're a bit heavy, but if you're heavy enough to make a decent crew, you've probably got the strength to drag it around. The problem is that we needed two people to sail it, and our jobs and other commitments meant increasingly that we couldn't make the time. It got to the point where we managed to sail only 3 times in 6 months.

I now sail a Blade, and we had a fantastic time at last week's F16 Nations Cup in the UK. What really made it a great weekend was that I was able to sail the first two days with my girlfriend, Ann, and then singlehand on the Monday when she couldn't get time off work. If we sailed an F18 then, apart from being underweight, we wouldn't have been able to sail the full weekend. If I'd been on a pure single hander, sailing would always be a non-inclusive activity. So, whilst I was interested to see how the F16s stacked up against the As at the Nations Cup, and will be keen to see out they go against the Nacras at Cat Fight, what really matters is that the F16 gets me on the water more often than I would otherwise. If you can use it to get some teens onto cats then great. I think it's the perfect boat for it, and as has been noted in another thread, most of the younger sailors seem to go straight into wobbly half-boats.

I've got a lot of time for the As. I love the simplicity and they're certainly very quick, but for me sailing with other people and hooning around with a spinnaker is an essential part of the fun.

Paul