Hello Mistro,
It has been slow on here. I finally got out this Saturday and had a blast, we finely had a day without rain and cold temps but we did have wind so it was a good time.
I think the biggest problem was it's so close to the Getaway that the larger market went for that. You can get wings and it has the front netting tramp. Hobie also advertised the T2 more as a training boat, good for learning to sail and good for school fleets.
I don't think Gord actually called Hobie about a front crossbar because I have needed a couple of parts for mine and Hobie has taken good care of me. When they took a mast bottom off the assembly line for me, I think she said they had parts to assembly 17 more at the time. Not sure if they finished them or not, hopefully they stocked the parts for us. It was listed as special order last time I heard something and I've thought of buying another hull and just putting it in the garage just in case they become obsolete, I do plan to keep this boat for as long as possible.
With all that said, I have finished converting mine to the H16 main and jib and it's the best boat Hobie never made. After getting my head straight and thinking about it, I made a gennaker style pole to move the forestay forward about 12in to fit the jib, it came out great. That way I kept the original mounting for the bridle wires.
My H18 racing friend has been crunching numbers and texting me. With 46 more sq feet, that's 26.16% more sail area, better than 25% increase in HP. Now my power to weight ratio is basically the same as the H18. T16 is .561, the H18 is .564
I had two minor problems with main and jib halyards that kept me from getting my sails tighten properly, I forgot my cable cutter and couldn't shorten them at the lake, I sailed anyway, so I never got full power out of it but I like it better than any of my other boats already. Bigger than my Bravo and 14T, more buoyant then my 16's and faster than my Getaway. I'll post some photos and videos as I get them.
Buxton
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