There are really no issues with sailing light boats in strong winds compared to sailing heavy boats in strong winds, in fact as with everything the lighter the kit the easier it is to use.

A hobie 17 is often reckoned to be an easy boat to sail in a strong wind compared to an A cat, but is that because it is twice the weight or because it is very undercanvassed compared to the A.

To make an A go as slow as a Hobie 17 you would have to reduce the mast height by 6 feet AND the sail area by 1/3, now which boat do you think would be the easiest to sail.

Conversly to make the Hobie 17 as quick as the A class you would have to add8 feet to the mast and a whopping 42% extra sail area, whose going to hold that down in 25 knots.

My point is that it isn't the weight (or lack of it) that makes a boat hard to sail more the size of the sails compared to that weight. So in order to compare how easy one boat is to sail against another you must pick boats of similar width and speed.

A Hobie wave weighs in a lot less than a Formula 18 so does that make it harder to sail when the wind gets up.