I just got home in TN from a vacation in S. Cali..... there seemed to be an amazing lack of hobie cats ( tons of kayaks and surfboards tho ) I called the hobie fleet person for longbeach, listed on this site and she said her and her husband haven't sailed a hobie there in 25 years!! WHA!?
A used H16 is cheaper than a new Xbox with 4 games! Our fleet is actually growing here by about 3 H cats a year at our club, Delta Sailing Assoc. in N.Mississippi.
I've gotta tell you guys, that Pearl, Max and Twixxy look AWESOME! Especially the Pearl. Id buy one on the spot if one was for sale at Rooke!
I also talk to a lot of people interested in being a catamaran owner, casual at first, then maybe years later a racer, maybe. The truth...... us Americans are getting fatter yet we still want to go faster. At 200+ Lbs you're a solo H16 guy, any crew over 12 years old (and 85lbs ) will make your boat slow as hell in a race
The H20 was the answer for me to get the speed and big hulls for big people on big water
However, a modern designed , 18' Cat with the spin/wings/easy rig/ options for under $17k would sell like hotcakes. At least around here, people are getting tired of sitting around at home all weekend on the computer playing WoW and living on FB..... especially when they see my weekend photo's sailing, grilling out, camping and ear to ear grins all summer long