It's amazing that H16 owners always seem to think that whenever the boats obvious shortcomings are discussed they see a need to defend the boat. It's been a great boat, there's no denying that. Lots of people have had, and are still having huge fun sailing the thing. It's been responsible for much interest in cat sailing generally and probably has contributed more potential sailors to cats than any other boat.

It says much about the boat that it is still popular today after 30 or 40 years on the water but there's no denying that it embodies very old technology requiring particular skills from the crew to sail it well. I guess that if one can sail a H16 well, success on any other class possibly comes somewhat easier, but the reality is they are a very old design which in these times is very much outdated.

Nobody expects existing H16 sailors to burn their boats or feel in any way inferior because they still like to sail them, but you need to relax.
If you want to sail/race a H16, good for you but expect that when asked, the rest of the world will have a realistic opinion.