Jerry,

It all comes down to ratios, not if your're ligter or heavier.

Example :

An F18 will get you into trouble just as quickly as an F16 despite the first being heavier; only the sheet loads are higher on a F18. The F16 singelhander (Not doublehander) is noticable more sensitive in the momentum department. However the difference between F18 (330 kg total) and F16 doublehander (257 kg total = 78 %) is not sufficient to make much difference in wavy conditions. Compare to A-cat = overall = 150 kg = 45 % of F18 overall. This is the reason why nearly all most singlehanders

A Prindle 16 (135 kg) will get you less quickly into trouble than a lighter F16. This is not because of weight but because of the ratio between platform and rig dimensions. On the other hand the heavier Hobie 16 (150 kg) and Prindle 18 (160 kg) (also very comparable in sail area) will get you more quickly into trouble than the lighter Prindle 16.

You see; it is not about weight that much; it's far far more about the ratios between the different parameters, of which weight is just one of many.

These example fully contradict your summary.

Best boats for novices are the ones with mild behaviour and robustness (damage) but quickly novices get the hang of things and will do better on a more refined platform. My advice is always to just get a cheap secondhander that you can sink without going backrupt and than after 1 or 2 years upgrade to a more refined boat.

I love my Prindle 16 (my first) and still have it but I soon switched to Prindle 18 and F18 after getting my basic skills in order.

>>a lighter cat may in fact let one learn more quickly due to it's greater feedback but might be more frustrating in the process.

Nothing is more frustrating than a cat that doesn't groove in light air. I love my Prindle 16 but making that one go well in light winds requires alot of skill. Far more than you need to know about handling a modern boat in heavy winds.

I would also like to add that a boat with less tune and trimtools also requires more skill to handle. Example. a boom less main is more difficult to control and handle in the heavy stuff than a boomed main. Novices feel that they are better of with a boom less main but actually they are worse off. In a blow you must use the traveller of the boomless main to depower and not the mainsheet. If you do you the mainsheet than the main will twist and curl only to get it's old shape back with a bang when the angle of attack crosses a threshold again. Makes for a lively ride.

See what I'm getting at ?

Differentiate between marketing talk and physics.

I personally found my smaller ligthweight Toyato a lot easier and comfortable to drive when I just had my drivers license than the big station wagon of my parents.

Wouter