[quote=philzy]Hey I made the switch from small monohull to catamaran a year ago. I got a Prindle 16 and other than learning to have patience during a tack, it's a whole new world of sailing. I would recommend a prindle 16, I'm about your height, and 180 lbs and I carry a bag for weight in case I flip. I have sailed faster than my comfortable ability while on the wire in the ocean and never pitchpoled. The only time after 20+ times sailing I ever flipped it over was because my block and mainsheet were knotted with one-another and I couldnt uncleat before a light gust sent my boat slowly rolling over. With that said, just follow the routines they recommend here on the site about righting the boat, it's not horrific.
$1500 is a lot for a used 16' cat, so make sure you're getting something absolutely ready to sail that day, and trailer anywhere. The "I wanna make sure that never breaks when I'm sailing" bug will end up making you spend $1,000 or more on minor things if the boat needs "a little" fixing up. So, either keep your standards 9/10 high for a used boat, or aim to buy something around $600-$1000 and be ready to do work on it yourself. Replacing things is the best learning experience.
So I went from a 13' catalina to a prindle 16 and the excitement and adrenaline is so much better. If you sail cautiously you may never flip your cat, when you start to get comfortable with your ability and extend your limits, the risk of flipping is greater, but worth it.
Also, the prindle has larger hulls, more resistance to pitch poling, I personally feel like it slices through the water better. The only drawback is that the hobie rudder system seems pretty practical, whereas prindle made it difficult to get used to at first. Even hobie owners on this site admit that the prindle is the better buy for a 16' boat. Also, that's a great size to start with, I can sail 2 -3 people on it comfortably, and still it's perfect for light-medium (7-15mph) wind days solo.[/quote]
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