We have had a 2004 216 for 4 years. It is a tender boat especially in choppy conditions. But I would recommend her for folks looking for a daysailer or looking for a challenging boat to race with a high excitement factor and steep learning curve.
The plastic cracks in colder climates when water is able to get into an seam/hole and expand with below freezing conditions. I have noticed hairline cracks near the chain plates but was able to stop and easily repair them. These were unrelated to weather and just natural age. The acp plastic is on the outside with a foam core and an inner fiberglass shell.
The new hunter 22 is a better design and now fully fiberglass vs acp (essentially plastic). This adds a few hundred lbs of displacement which I would personally like.
We started daysailing and have since begun racing with a 198 phrf rating. The sail area to displacement ratio with main/jib is around the mid 30s. With main and spinnaker it is around the 50s. She is "easy" to sail, but challenging to sail well. As you can tell with those ratios the 216 has a lot of sail in proportion. This is what adds to the challenge.
She is is also very beamy in relation to other boats in her size. Which is nice for cockpit room, but not great on the performance aspect b/c she really needs to be kept pretty flat upwind to point well.
The vara rudder is ok. Gotta make sure the bearings are delran otherwise the helm sticks. The swing keel design is also ok. The hydraulic that raises the keel is very powerful. People over tension and it pulls the blots out of the keel. The keel cable also comes off. We added a piece of plastic in front of the pulley guide to prevent this. The keel also swings in rougher conditions. Door stops help.
We have customized heavily, replaced the vang, added spinnaker package, new sails, electric, vberth, lighting, radio,traveler, lighter higher tech sheets, mast wedge, and added a keel gasket. The mast is relatively easy to step. The shrouds are easy to tension and tune. She is light on the trailer.
Had we not started racing we would've probably never made 3/4 of the mods we have made. From a family daysailer perspective you can't ask for anything easier. If you want to cruise or go longer distances this not the boat. If you want to quickly go for a sail without the hassle then this is the right boat. If you want to go for mr toads wild ride in heavy conditions then this is the right boat. If you want to play it calm then take her out in 5-10 kts and save the 10-15+ kts as you gain experience.
Hope this helps.