HOBIE WILL IT SURVIVE WITH A 32 FOOT MAST- ''YOUR THOUGHTS''

HI, i would like to know what you think of a H18 with a 32 foot mast and custom sail. My question is do you think the boat will fail before the driver, does anybody think this might work, speed wise, any suggestions
are welcome, this boat is just a fun boat nothing more, i just want to do a little experiment. i love to experiment on just about everything, SO How about some suggestions .....PLEASE

The righting moment of the hull platform is left unchanged, however the the CE of the taller rig will be moved up due to increased height. So my guess would be that the issue will be more a matter of keeping the boat upright rather than the boat breaking. In other words, the added power from the bigger rig will be un-useable since the boat will just heel more and want to pitchpole more...at least, that's what I would expect.

sm

thanks srm for your reply, i was hoping to carry 1 or 2 more big lads without loosing speed, the only way you learn is to ask the Q and hope you get lots of replies. You know i look at this forum and see some Q That have been asked & see that there has been 5 or 6 hundred people visit ,,yet know one has left a reply. For all you sailor's out there it doesn't matter if your answer is right or wrong, at the end of the day you had your say which encourages others to talk and add there piece of info, we love it,,,,,,,pepsi

As srm stated, the center of effort (CE) will move up increasing the heeling effect (or on a cat the capsizing effect). The added crew weight can help resist the heeling effect but the hull hulls will submerge more. The hulls have only so much buoyancy and adding sail area doesn’t increase the boats carrying capacity. Adding wings to get the crew weight farther out on trapeze may be a better solution. That increases your righting moment without increasing weight.

I’d consider a spinnaker to add sail area( and horse-ower) before messing with the standing rig. (Just my $.02)

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John Latimer
'79 Hobie18 - Magnum
Sail#4854

Dave,

I know that when I changed my P19 to a P19MX (squaretop mainsail) it added speed in lighter conditions but it made the boat much more sensitive to any puff that comes along wanting to fly a hull or flip/capsize much faster. If you don't catch it quickly you are over and your activity changes from sailing to swimming.....

But let's think about this, the standard H18SE has a mast just slightly longer then 29' (I would need to go measure a mast to be sure of the exact measurement) ... the H18SX has a mast that is 18" longer which would mean it is somewhere around 32' long

There is a gentleman who has fitted a "Tiger" rig onto a H18 platform who sails in the North /South Carolina area. He posts here on Hobie Forum and on CatSailor Forum. He posted pic's last year on CatSailor, and the boat looks nice (it had me scratching my head for awhile as I knew what hulls and crossbars they were/are, but the sails are a vertical cut ... I was confused !!!) He has stated many times that he is really happy w/ the boat as it is currently configured. He posts under a four letter accronym starting w/ "NC??". He has sailed at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolinia in the recent past .... does anyone know to whom I am referring to????

I would recommend talking to him

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

I was wrong .... the gentleman uses a FIVE letter identification ....

"ncmbm" .... I do not have a name.

He had posted here on the H18/H18SX forum most recently in the thread about H18SX sails just a few threads down in the listing.

... so I would recommend posting a thread on CatSailor as I see his posts there often .....

"ncmbm" I would like to talk to you about putting a F18 mast on a H18SE platform ....

That should do the trick ...

Good Luck

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

Thanks harry & danneskjold for your Experience, i have been trying to get wings , But its proving futile. I have emailed Mariner Sails, But even he thinks the SX wings are no longer available ????? Hmmmm. Its good to hear that theirs people playing around with different mast configurations to see what goes. Everything that was any good all came from Experimentation .. We need to do this, or at least i do. i was doing it as a kid and i am still at it Hmm,,,Mabe i will be happy with standed one day. Having said that i love the H18 and do believe that they are fantastic, and a very good looking boat, as far as boats go ''girls are good to'' it was good to here about the square top sail being super sensitive to wind, i will keep that in mind. Keep the information coming i am sure there are others who wonder.

Last I checked there was one pair of wings left at the factory.

J

Thanks for that Surf city Catamarans, i have Email you on this which you should get,,,''well now'' Thanks for that , look to hear from you soon, with a bit of luck that will be one problem out of the way. CHEERS

Well that changes things. In your original post, you only mentioned increasing the height of the rig. If you increase the size of the rig but keep the platform and crew the same, the power of the rig is going to increase, but the rig is going to be overpowered sooner, so the boat is really just going to want to capsize more readily.
However, if you increase the size of the rig and add additional crew, then the loads on the boat are going to increase and you definitely run the risk of breaking something. A 32ft mast is really tall for an 18 (the Hobie 20 had a 31ft mast and those boats are beasts). I probably wouldn't do it unless you sail in a light wind location. 18s are tanks, but even tanks have limits.

sm

Thanks srm for your reply on this topic, i was putting wings on as well , do you think that it might cope with it now, another chap had suggested that without wing things would be tricky Hmmm makes you wonder hey.

Uhh..ok, so you're going to put a 32ft mast and wings on a H18 and sail it with 2 or 3 big guys and you wonder if the boat might break apart. Of course only the guys at Hobie really know what the boat is capable of since they're the ones who designed and tested it. But the H18 was originally designed as a two person boat with a 28ft mast and no wings. I'd say you're definitely going to be pushing the limit of what the boat can take, especially if you sail in any real wind. As I said before, 18's are tough, but there is still a limit.

sm

ncmbm Has done something similar to what i suggest i here,,,if your listening i would appreciate some info,,,Calling ncmbm,,

ncmbm's "experiment" is nothing like yours.

Putting a Tiger rig on an 18 is in effect the same as the SX modification. Tiger mast is same height as SX mast, and the main sail is a hair smaller.

I would not expect to see any significant (overall) increase in speed. Taller rig will add more weight, boat will sit lower, have less freeboard, and as the wind and waves pick up start slapping the beams. Carrying more crew weight will only compound that problem. I'm guessing at some "sweet spot" of wind speed (8 to 12 mph range?) the boat will be faster, but suffer, compared to stock, at all other ranges.

But who am I? Try it out and prove me wrong.

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

i like that last touch,,,Who am i