The Tanzer 16 was designed by Johann Tanzer and was first built in 1963. Production went until 1985 with a total of nearly 1900 boats being built. Originally known as the Constellation, there were two versions of the boat that were built; one as an open dinghy, the other as an over-nighter with a small cuddy cabin.The class association owns the molds and a new Tanzer 16 could be built with them (although only a few boats have been built since Tanzer Industries stoped building them).