Best Starter Hobie: Wave or 16?

I'm new to sailing, but moved to a town on Long Island sound with a great beach and a bunch of Hobie Waves and 16s. I understand the Wave may be best to learn on, but will I quickly outgrow the Wave and wish I had the 16? (I'm 31 years old and somewhat athletic if that helps). Could I sail a 16 with only the mainsail when learning? I'll be sailing single-handed most of the time.

I plan on taking some lessons with both boats to see what I like best, but wanted to consult the experts.

Thanks!

Dan

Do you have any sailing experience at all? If you already know how to sail, I would go with the 16. I have sailed the wave in the Caribbean and it was better than sitting on the beach, but I imagine I would soon want something else with more performance potential. I learned on a 16, so am biased. If you are dead new to sailing, I would look into borrowing or just sailing with someone else for a while and then go with the 16. Whatever-have fun.

Dan,

I recently struggled with this same question. 25 years ago when I was 16 years old I sailed w/ a friend of mine on his H16 for the summer as his crew. I've always wanted a hobie, but have virtually no experience. I tossed it back and forth on want to get: H16, Wave or a Getaway. After doing a multi-state search for a decent used boat, the H 16's were the only ones available so that kinda made my decission for me. I picked up my 1980 H16 5 weeks ago and have had it out 5 times so far on a few different lakes in conditions from mild to 15 knots and it is the best decission I have made in many years. I have had no problems and it is easy to handle, but you just have to take your time when the winds start to pick up. I am sure the Wave is a nice boat, but they are truely not in the same league as the 16's. Hope my little story helps you with your decission and whatever boat you end up with is going to be better than no boat at all.

i just bought a hobie 16 and only have sailing experience with a Catalina 22 and i have to say that the hobie 16 is easy to sail if you have the basic background, it takes a day or two in light winds to get used to it and then your ready to go! i LOVE my hobie 16!!

I can answer this one, because I own a Wave and have spent a lot of time on a 16 both as crew and skipper.

First the H16: It is true that this boat has a lot more performance. On light wind days you can sail solo. There will be days, when the wind is up, that a crew will be REQUIRED to hold her down. Setup time for the H16 is a little high (at least its quite a bit harder than the Wave). Righting the H16 solo will be tricky too - you will need a righting bag. Overview - if you have mast-up storage and prevailing light/moderate wind the H16 would be a good solo boat. If your launching from a trailer and have heavy air, you will need a crew.

Hobie Wave: On light air days the Wave is boring. When the wind is up, OH-MY-GOD, perfect! You can sail the Wave in 30mph wind solo, you can right her solo, and setup solo. You do have the option of bringing crew, but they really wont have anything to do and really become just a passenger - passengers will tend to slow you down a little. Overview: the Wave is about simplicity, its easy to do everything solo, its slow in light air but there is nothing better for heavy air. (My personal strategy is to wait for the wind to start blowing trashcans/trees/toupees, grab the Wave and head out for a solo mission)

I can't speak one way or another about the Wave but having owned and sailed an H-16 for 24 years I can vouch for it. I sail solo much of the time though the boat will hold 4. There are not many times when the wind is so strong that I need to enlist a crew but it is not difficult to find someone who would like to sail. My grandchildren love going out on it though they are now a little far away and it takes some planning to get together with them and the boat. My grandson and I were out and I clocked us at 18 mph with my GPS. We actually went faster but I couldn't take time to look at the GPS. I believe we exceeded 20 mph. Pretty fast for a sailboat.

I rig the boat by myself on the trailer and find that it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get it rigged and in the water. Raising the mast alone is not a problem using some little tricks. I tie an 8' line to the jib halyard and the bridle. I made a simple tripod that I set the mast on, then raise the mast, lean into it as I reach down and uncleat the jib halyard, pull it tight and re-cleat. I then fasten the forestay and finish rigging.

I don't know where you plan to sail or how often you plan to be sailing alone. I would not go out on the ocean alone since it is too difficult to get out through the surf without help and if you do go over righting the boat could be a problem. Lakes are different. There is less wind and smoother water. I bought my boat new in '85 and have never regretted it or desired to change to anything else. I am still sailing at age 75 so if I can do it I'm sure you can.

I just re-read your post and see that you are probably going to sail on Long Island Sound. I would guess that you would want a crew until you got proficient.

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Howard

Where do you live? Where will you be sailing?

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Hobie 16 sail # 9281

Guys, thanks for all of the great input. I live in Fairfield, CT and will be sailing on Long Island sound. Providing I can get a spot, there is a place to leave hobie cats on the beach with the mast in place.

I don't know that area too well, but the reason I ask is:

A. Wind
You're gonna have a hell of a lot more fun in 7-9 knots on a 16 than a wave once you get your feet under you. How is the wind around you normally? (also a great trick for you: whitecaps, the tops of waves being blow off, form at 13 knots. One every so often is 11 knots and a whole ocean of em is 16+ (aka honking, screaming).

B. Area Resources / pop
1. Are there other Hobie sailors or similar community of amiable people to get tips from in the area? I'm guessing yes, so getting on sight advice on some of the more advanced trickery of the 16 would probably be not too hard
2. A strong community of local sailors will keep your learning curve steep. If going to be able to really submerge yourself in the scene, I'd go with a 16 for sure.
3.If you go out, capsize and really screw yourself are you going to drift away and not be noticed? Obviously someone's random kindness or the harbormaster is something you should never rely on. But could you have it if you really needed? or at least just to give you some level of comfort.

Finally not related to the area, but most important IMO:

How comfortable will you be if you lose control of the boat?
This is something that will happen eventually either way, but will be a more common occurrence starting on a 16. You need to take a look at yourself. Are you gonna stay cool, asses the situation, and take action to maintain/regain control, or are you going to panic and have your head explode? Everyone gets into a nerve-wracking situation once and while, the trick is how you react. If you're afraid of losing it I'd tell you to go with the wave. But if you like living on the edge, and are prepared to act with levelheadedness, take the 16.

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Hobie 16 sail # 9281

Another important question to ask yourself would be how much time do you realistically plan to devote to sailing? If you only plan to go a couple times per year, the Wave would probably be the best choice since it's simple to set up and simple to sail. If you plan to try to sail on a regular basis (like once a week in the summer), then the 16 might be a better choice since it is a little bit more challenging but offers more performance potential.

You pretty much can't go wrong with either.

sm

Wrong. No matter which boat you choose, act with levelheadedness. You can take each boat to the edge, the difference is on a H16 the edge is 15-20 knots, on a Wave the edge is 25-30knots.

This is true. On the water in a 16 or Wave is better than farting around an internet forum posting opinions.

God, I wish I were on the water right now.

My younger brother is thinking about getting some sort of sailboat (he is about 42). He was thinking about a Hobie 16 so I took him out a few days ago (edit - on a 16) and made sure he was with me when I rigged the boat. For an old guy like myself (53), the Hobie 16 is a high performance sailboat and dealing with the mast is substantial. I have a gin pole mast raising system and we set everything up. Turned out to be a windy fricken day - lots of time with solid white caps and we had just one intense wild A$$ day - at over 400 pounds between us, the boat got pushed pretty hard (we trashed the tramp and damaged the jib sail - must have been a good sailing)

At the end of the day, I think he is sold on a Hobie cat but I think he found the mast and sails of the Hobie 16 a little more than he wanted to deal with. So he is now looking for a Wave.

I think the Wave will be a great boat for him. Fairly simple to set up (important), he can single hand it in just about any wind but he will also be able to take it out with a fair amount of company which I cant do with my 14. The wave would have been fun on the day we went sailing either solo or with both of us. I would not have sailed the 16 on this day by myself. He will give up some performance but no matter what boat you pick, there is always some comprimise.

That's a nice spot! My wife and I actually got married (by a justice of the peace) on the jetty that's just North of the cat storage area. You can see the Hobies in the back of our wedding pictures.

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-Roland
Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.

scott at the boat locker is your local hobie guru.he is in in westport,ct.203-259-7808.he can help you out with a boat,parts and questions.good luck!

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81' h16
89' h16 "stars and stripes"