Joy of Sailing

I love sailing my Hobie 16 but once again I find myself thinking about an upgrade.
Obviously the new boats are faster but are they more fun?
A boat without weather helm.
Screaming downwind without fear of stuffing the bow.
Tacking as easily as crawling to the far side of the boat.
But then...
There's the stuff, the strings, the expense, the breakage.
For me sailing has meant beach fires, beer, and naked women. Speed and thrills.
Somehow I doubt if all that comes with a new boat.

That was how I felt about my little Hobie 14, but once I upgraded it made it all better. I worried that I would miss my little baby, being able to set her up in 10 minutes, and being able to drag her around with one hand.
Now that I have upgraded and have had the new to me Nacra 5.2 on the water I am glad I did it.
You will make new memories with the new boat, plus the old ones will always be there!

Ahh yes, the Hobie way of life!

My early sailing was based around heavy eather and wild times. The boat was a sort of bull that had to be wrestled into submission. I loved big wave, high spead chaos.
I upgraded a sail and added a piece of string and then a higher ratio reduction unit and.. a new life began.
I learnt how to sail.
Would you really want to get out of that new car with better handling, doors that close just so and the factory fitted six speaker stereo for the wonderful old banger you used to love?
You have the heavy weather skills and confidence and you will be amazed at the feeling of driving the bow down into the sea and watching the water fly up in a spray and your new top speed makes you laugh really loudly.
All of the new strings do great things.. learning curve.. so what.

Yes the new boats are definitely more fun to sail..and easier. I found that I just got bored with the same old boat year after year. Part of the excitement of sailing is mastering a new boat..

I too find great reward and enjoyment in mastering a new and more sophisticated boat. Learning to be more sensitive to this new ride, and forever becoming more aware of the wind and water. And to see progress in my boathandling skills each year.
Take the plunge! You will only love the sport more, and you can still do all those things with the new cat. You'll soon forget about the money, or come to feel it's worth the dollar spent.

Dave

"Screaming downwind without fear of stuffing the bow"

PUT A KITE ON IT!
Honest, the 16 is great with the spinny kit. Force 5 and single wiring down-hill - no problem - honest

Chet, you could upgrade to a used Hobie 18 for about the same money as your H16 and have just as easy set up time, better tacking, better downwind non-stuffing, and even a roller furling jib for those really windy days, and lots more volume in the hulls if you want to bring more than one person with you. I paid $750 for my first Hobie 18 and to this day and 3 newer, faster, much more expensive spinnaker cats later it was the best $750 I ever spent, and probably the most fun in the least amount of set up time. There are lots of other boats out there that would do just as well as the Hobie 18: a Prindle 18, Nacra 5.5 Sloop, etc., all much cheaper than a new F18 and just as easy to set up as a H16, and much easier to sail. You can add a spin to all of them later. The extra 2 feet up front and all that volume in the hulls makes for a much better ride in any wind and you can still single hand them easily. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />