14 or 16?

Hey all
Was wondering if there truely is a significant difference between sailing a 14 and a 16? Im 17 years old and have been sailing monohuls for 8 years and a hobie for 2. I am currently the owner of a 14 and am wondering whether it is worth investing in lots of after market parts for my 14 or to upgrade to a 16 for added size and so I can grow as a hobie sailer. My hobie has nothing but stock parts and I would be adding trapeze wires, a harness, new hiking stick, eventually racing rudders. I should mention that the hulls are in great shape for a 1975. No soft spots, sail is from the early 90's, new paint job. I sail primarily on a lake that is about 1 and 1/2 miles long, but I take day trips to larger lakes in the NH area, one day I hope to race. What are everyones thoughts on my situation?

Need to have JamieZX chime in on this one. He has a 14 and a 16. He can give you the pros and cons on this.

i tried to message him and it wouldnt let me. Then when i emailed him it said that his email address doesnt work. If anyone can point him towards this forum that would be great

He is over in the Middle East right now. I'll see if I can get him to reply.

Alright cool. Thanks

I have owned a 16 and now sail a turbo14. Both boats are great! I like the 14 alot, as it is smaller and lighter, easier and faster to rig, handles great, and is almost as fast as the 16. I actually race vs my friends on 16s and beat them on a regular basis. It is not that my boat is faster, it is just that I am able to get the most out of it.

The 14 does have some negatives: It is only good for one or two people. I go out with my daughters who do not weigh much. My two oldest only weigh 130 combined. The turbo set up eats up half the tramp. The regattas that take place down here at South Padre Isand only allow 16's and up. This is about it for the negatives.

The 16 has some pluses: It is a little faster, if you are a good sailer, it can hold 4 average weight adults with no problem, and there are more racing classes available.

It just depends on what you are wanting to do with your boat.

Danny

I'll go ahead and agree with Danny. I tried going out me and two (early-teenage) boys on the 14 once and it almost sank. lol On the other hand three adults on a 16 is no problem, even though it's kind of a dog then. Me and my wife on the 14 are about all it can handle, and the 14 is a dog with two people.

If you mainly just sail by yourself and are happy with the 14 then I see no reason to move up to a 16. OTOH if you're wanting to take friends out occasionally and really show them a good time and feel like you want a boat with a jib, then by all means, go for a 16.

Next year I'm hoping to add a Catalina 25 to my boat inventory. The wife likes to "go inside" when she gets cold and the Hobies aren't much good for that and the R33 cat is waaaaaay too expensive.

_________________
Warm regards,

Jim

Having never sailed a 14, you can take this with a grain of salt.

I would go ahead and upgrade to a 16,

I sail a 16 single handed all the time, and have no trouble handling the boat, with a righting bucket I can get it back over by myself in the event of a capsize. This last weekend I had it out on Mission Bay by myself and consitantly beat one of those ugly evil Prindle 18s

The nice thing about the 16 is that you are allways garunteed to show up to a regatta and have other 16s to race with. If you are looking to get into racing..

I have said it before, but will say it again... The new 16s are SWEEEEEEET!

Thank you Dgaleana and JamieZX. You guys were really informative. I will post my decision in this forum at a later date. Thanks guys

Alright. After looking at my boat and checking out my situation i have decided I'm going to keep my 14 and add parts to it. The hell with taking my friends out. My dad can take people out in the Bayliner if they want to go for a ride around the lake. Thanks Guys