This boat likes alot of rake, especially reaching in a fresh breeze. Play around with the rake, increasing it until the leech of the main begins to twist off when two-blocked. Also read Wayne Schaefer's excellent chapter on the Hobie 16 in Rick's book, "Catamaran Racing for the 90s."

One really has to develop a one-to-one "feel" for the Hobie 16. To me it's way more fun to sail than any of the new boats. The bottom line is, don't let those left-brained daggerboard weenies tell you this boat can't handle the big stuff. With plenty of rake and two-blocked, maybe traveled out a little, the H16 will handle any nuclear blow that those Worrell boats can; actually more than they can, but that's another story.