Design and Construction
Every RS Cat 16 shares the same rotomolded hulls, and the boat is fully modular: the sturdy extruded-aluminum crossbeams are held by just eight bolts, and the cat can be broken down with a wrench for storage or SUV-topping. RS Sailing, a veteran UK dinghy builder, built the boat in Hampshire, and the construction approach keeps all-up weight to 308 pounds while making the platform easy to own and transport. The twin aluminum rudders carry a "lift and lock" feature so they can be retracted or dropped in seconds when coming ashore, a detail that underscores the boat's beach-cat intent rather than marina life.
Rig and Handling
The boat uses a one-piece rotating Seldén aluminum mast with no boom, and the loose-footed mainsail is the common thread across three variants. The basic Club flies only that mainsail; the S version adds a jib and a single trapeze for juniors and families; the XL brings dual trapezes and a gennaker launched from a sock and flown off a substantial sprit for more experienced hands, with the gennaker available as an option on the S. Writing in sailmagazine.com, a tester found the helm solid and responsive at all wind angles, and noted the boat easily locked onto a heading and balanced there, yet remained capable of pirouetting on a dime when maneuvering. In light wind rarely topping 10 knots, reaching back and forth was an absolute blast, and even under main and jib alone the wave-piercing bows produced laser-straight wakes; hoisting the A-sail only sharpened the wake and piercing action. SAIL's Best Boats 2014 summed it up as remarkably stiff under sail and an absolute gas, with twin wakes streaming aft.
Accommodations and Cockpit
There are no cabins or berths—this is a dayboat—but the tops of the two hulls are concave to make for more comfortable crew seating, and a substantial carbon-fiber tiller extension lets the crew hike or trap out without fighting the helm. The 133 square feet of working sail including the 25 square foot jib, plus a 138 square foot A-sail, drive a boat whose SA/D ratio is 31 and D/L ratio 67 with 250 pounds of crew, figures that explain the lively but balanced feel testers described.
Variants and Ownership
The three-version strategy lets one hull serve a club trainer, a family dayboat, and a spirited trapeze-and-kite boat. Because all versions share the same rotomolded hulls and the eight-bolt crossbeam system, the platform is simple to reconfigure between rigs, and the modular disassembly keeps off-season storage cheap. The 1 foot 5 inch draft and 308-pound all-up weight mean a couple of people can manage the boat without a travel lift.
The Verdict
The RS Cat 16 succeeds as a modern beach cat that trades none of its approachability for speed. The wave-piercing bows and rotomolded modular hulls make it a practical, transportable platform, while the S and XL rigs let owners scale excitement from a jib-and-trapeze family sail to a dual-trapeze gennaker blast. Testers found it stiff, balanced, and quick to maneuver, and the build is straightforward to take apart and store.
Pros
- Modular rotomolded hulls secured by eight bolts for fast disassembly and SUV transport
- Wave-piercing bows that effectively cut through wakes and chop
- Three variants from mainsail-only Club to dual-trapeze XL with gennaker
- Solid, responsive helm that balances easily yet pivots tightly
Cons
- No boom on the rotating rig limits certain sail-handling habits
- Beach-cat draft and rudder design assume shoreline launching, not marina berthing
