I have had the opportunity to sail both a Wave and a 16 over the past week. The Wave, although it does not go as fast was far easier to handle. As an inexperienced sailor, it was very easy for me to handle, and I really like the idea of being able to go out alone or not having to depend on crew members.

I doubt I will soon have the opportunity to sail a 14 before making by purchase decision, so I would like some input on whether the 14 would be a better boat for me to purchase than the Wave. Is the 14 very easy to right? How much weight does it require to right? How is the stability of the 14? Anything else I should be aware of?

Learn on the wave - have fun (after all that is what it is really all about) - and after you have some experience I am sure that you will better know just what type of "step up to" cat that suits you best when the time comes, then you can always sell the wave.

get a Windrush 14, Maricat 4.3 or a Paper Tiger. You will learn much more, pay much less and they are easy to right with a little practice.

Get a wave. Learn on it. Upgrade in two or three years to a 16 feet (Hobie 16 or F16, depends on your fleet, your weight, if you sail solo and the amount of money you want to put in...)

It depends on what you're looking for.

A wave is easier to sail, but I believe you'll learn more on the 14. The 14 can be difficult to tack, and is very affected by weight placement. Get it right, and you know it, get it wrong, and you know it. When you get it right they are great boats, and those reinforced skills carry over to any other cat. Unfortunately you can't buy a new one.

I got a Mystere 4.3 to learn kite on. It is a VERY stable fast boat. Easy to rig and can be had in the $3000-3200 range with squaretop main, blade jib and a snuffer spinnaker. Hold my 210 lbs, plus grand daughters 110 lbs. I will prepare you for the the hotter boats.

Doug

Learn on the Wave. You can learn the basics in a boat designed to teach people to sail cats without scaring them. Push it hard. Take it out in all kinds of weather. When you reach the point that you are thinking, this is going to be fun when the rest of the sailors are not even considering steping their mast because the wind is too high, start thinking about your next boat.

The Wave is a great boat with lots of buoyancy. If you want to soup it up, you can. Tougher to do with the H14, as the hulls cannot handle the extra power.
Also, the Wave has a strong and growing class, with pockets of good fleets all over the east.., i.e., Put-in-Bay, OH, Sandy Hook, NJ, Duck, NC, Melbourne, FL, Key Largo, FL, with a class that has a National Series Championship, the 10th Annual Nationals approaching in December, an Atlantic Coast Championship in early October, a Southern Championship in late October.
Also planned for 2008 is an invitational in Ruskin, FL, on the sw end of Tampa Bay sailing out of the Stan Woodruff YC at his new home there.
Can't beat the Wave. And it sports some very awesome sailors.
Rick

How long does it take to break a Wave down for car topping?

With the Classic, probably about 10 minutes or less. With the Club, you need to add to that the time to unlace the trampoline. So, add another 15-20 minutes.
Rick

I have a club wave that I transport on the roof of my truck 'cause we pull a travel trailer at the same time. With help from anyone even my 8 year old I can have the boat in the water sailing in less than 20 minutes from the time I get out of the truck. The boat comes apart into all of its pieces very easy and quick.