I know the prindle has less sail area and weighs more, but I also heard it is faster? Which is faster because I would think the hobie but someone told me otherwise. I love sailing but I've never owned or sailed a cat, suggestions to what i should get? what are the strongsuites of each?

In my experience the Prindle 16 will outperform a H16 on the upwind leg by a very small margin. On the downwind legs the H16 spreads its legs and wins back what it lost upwind to take the prize. Not much difference between these boat though.

Wouter

I noticed in your profile you are looking for a 16 or 18. I would avoid the 18 as a starter boat as it has dager boards that are a big distraction (you can not EVER let them hit ground or you risk MAJOR damage).

One thing to consider is parts and fleets. There are large Hobie16 fleets world wide, but i am not sure about prindle fleets. You will probably also find more used hobie parts than prindle, but both are fun cats.

The P16 has much more bouyancy.

I looked at the US sailing Portsmouth tables, and to my suprise (no flaming), the H16 is rated faster.

There are infinitely more H16's around, with VERY fast sailors, that probbly drove the DPN # down some.

i've read a lot but not sailed either boat and it seems to me that prindle would be the easiest boat to sail fast for the beginner but the hobie would ultimately be faster for an experienced hobie sailor

the difference appears to be in the hobie's small banana hulls and huge sail. the small volume and pronounced rocker mean skipper and crews positioning is very important for good hobie handling. have your weight in a less than ideal place at the wrong time and the boat will not go fast or turn well. go too far foward and risk a pitch-pole. live on the rear beam in fear of pitch-poles and the wind will eventually get under the tramp and flip it backwards instead

things like positioning are very very difficult to teach by the numbers, you have to sail a lot and develop a "sense" for what's going on. but once you develop that sense you can start to make that huge sail work for you and get speeds out of the boat that can embarrass even 18foot boats in the hands of people with less time on the water

so go the prindle if you want an easier sail

the fact that you are even asking between the 2 means that you can get over the "looks" difference;o)

I sailed a h16 for 6 years and never pitch-poled. I was a novice cat sailor.

I truly dont think the difference in "speed" matters. The differences would be negated with the learning curve.

There are so many variables (mast rake, rudder tow, battens, sail shape, sheets etc) that i really think you should go with the best boat (condtion) and consider availability of parts and repair for the money and not worry about which is a little "faster".

The better sailor would be faster regardless of which 16 he/she is on (in my opinion).

I sail with many locals. There are many H16's and some P16's around. They are both great fun.

thats a good point, Im also lookin for which one can hold more weight, im guessing its the prindle with the bigger hulls, does anyone know how much its rated for?

I have one of each and raced a P-16 alot. the Hobie carries more sail area (bigger jib) and all in all it is probably faster. I prefer the P-16 myself, but they are both fun. As far as weight you should be able to carry more on the P-16, there is just alot more hull (flotation).Used Parts for the Hobie will be much more readily available.
Hope this helps,
Todd

That's incredible.

If the wind was up and I was in the mood to get wet I never made it too far with out a good pitchpole when I was just messing around.

There was a chap selling a Prindle 16 here on the net. It was obviously loved and set up well. He insisted he had NEVER been beaten by an H16. A lot of chat ensued on the auction. He seemed up front but then a really good sailor will always win if he does not seek out other really good sailors.
So, if performance really is so similar it seems like end use is what's important.

The prindle 18 does not have center boards - its the same shape as the prindle 16, it is also the same weight and has the same sail area as the Hobie 16 [From memory]. This may make it a boat that you should consider.

The Prindle 16 is lighter than the Hobie 16 and is a viable single hander because of this.

Did you know that the Hobie 16 has the same sail area as the original Tornado?

I owned and sailed/raced Prindle 16 and Prindle 18 for quite a few years.

The Prindle 18 is actually quite a performer, but I really like the Prindle 16. Mostly because it is lighter and more suited to taking it out alone. VMG is largely right the Prindle 18 has about the same sail area as the Hobie 16 and only weights about 25-30 lbs more. The P18 however outperforms the Hobie 16 without question. I put it down to the hullshape of the Prindle, it is just significantly better then that of the H16.

I've sailed several years on the Hobie 16 as a cat sailing instructor and while you can put 3 adults on the H16 it will feel crowded and you can flip over backwards during a tack. The latter because of lack of bouyancy in the sterns and because you are often in the back trying to keep the bows out. A few times we I also used my own Prindle 16 for these sailing lessons when the sailing school didn't have enough boats (I made some extra money that way) and you could really that tell the P16 hulls handled 3 adults noticeably better. You felt less cramped up on the "rail" and you could move your weight about without fearing to capsize over forwards or backwards.

The Prindle 16 has about 2.0 sq. mtr (22 sq. ft.) less sailarea fitted then the H16. The fact that it still is roughly an equal performer to the H16 says alot about the P16 hullshape in my opinion.

But what I really wanted to write about is this.

Having done lots of hard sailing on the prindles and associated repairs I can tell that spare parts are not really an issue except for the rudder system. Lots of Hobie 16 parts can be used on the Prindle 16. My advice when buying a Prindle 16 is to try to talk the price down because it is no longer an actively sailed boat and then sail as long as the rudders crap out on you. Then removed the rudders and fit a new set bought of Nacra (the best option) or buy Dotans. You could even retor fit Hobie rudder to the P16 sterns. From then onwards you can get many more years out of the Prindle without much issues at all.

Wouter

Back in the 70s and 80s, we weighed many of these boats. The P16s weighed between 285 and 300 lbs, and the Hobie 16 weighed between 325 and 350 lbs depending on the year, the later years got down to the design weight of 325. The Prindle 18s were pretty consistent at 325-335 lbs.

On the course around here, the P-16s were pretty consistently winning boat for boat around a course, unless Carleton Tucker or Miles Wood or someone at that level was on board. In that case, the P-16 was often as fast or faster upwind and the H-16 (sailed right) would gain the downwind and both would be close at the finish. I considered the two as equals around a course with equal sailors. Each had an optimal wind range/sea state where they were faster.