Rigging Time

I'm curious how long it takes people to rig a trailered H16 so it is ready to sail.

When I leave the house, the rudders are already installed, shrouds and bridle connected. I made a stepping extension to the trailer mast support to help raise the mast. I haven't replaced all pins/ring dings with quick connect pins yet, but have a couple of them.

Anyway, it is taking me well over a half hour to raise the sails, finish rigging, and launch the boat. When I rush, I do something like forgetting to install my drain plugs.

How long does it typically take you guys?

Solo, from the time I arrive at the ramp, about 40-45 minutes until the boat is in the water sail-ready. With help, 30 minutes or less.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

My 14 was about 20 minutes when hurrying.

My 5.2 which is closer to the 16 is about 40 minutes alone and 30 with help.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Yeah, I'm right at the 30 min range. I am a bit OCD so you have to figure in the trip back to the car to make sure I put it in park. Then the trip back to the car to make sure I locked it, and there there is the trip back to the car to make sure I locked up my wallet/phone and didn't lose them in the process.

Once on a very busy Saturday at the local ramp (power boats impatiently waiting in line), I backed in, unloaded the Hobie, and then, while car and trailer were still on and blocking the narrow ramp, discovered that I had locked the car- motor running, keys and cell phone locked inside!!!!! Just as I was about to do something drastic I thankfully noticed that the driver's door was still unlocked.

I've only done it probably 10 or so times. It probably takes me about 40 minutes if I'm pushing to do it quickly, but I have to drag it off of the trailer onto a mud shore and then tromp up and down the hill a few times. If it weren't for the mud it could be a consistent 30-35 minutes.

However, when I rush I usually end up with a pissed off crew (wife) and I forget to put in the teflon chip or something like that.

I usually take my time (45-50 minutes) and end up having a more pleasant day out on the water.

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1984 H16 - #80541

Solo I was able to get the boat rigged and sailing from the trailer in 15 minutes. This does not include the time to park the car which could add another 15-20 depending on how busy it was.

All I had to do was step the mast (about 3 min), attach the tiller cross bar (about 1 min), attach the bottom half of the main sheet blocks to the main traveler (about 2 min), push the boat off of the trailer onto the beach (about 3 min), raise the jib (about 3 min), raise the main (about 3 min). I had everything set up for fast rigging. It took longer to down rig because I organized everything for the next time I went sailing. Plus, it's harder to get the boat on the trailer than off.

I also had a summer where I was able to sail every day and got lots of practice rigging. My 18... no where near as fast at 45-60 min.

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Huh, interesting, I went ahead and just added that to my pre-launch checklist...

Raise Mast
Removed Trailering straps
Raise Sails
Piss off Wife
Put Life Jackets on Boat
Remove trailer tilt pin

It generally gets checked off like this:

"Well #$%@ honey, I assumed you would notice that stay under the rudder and realize there was no way I could raise the mast with it like that. I kind of thought I covered that when I said, please make sure I'm not hooked on anything when I raise the mast."

Which means I have to tack on an extra 10 minutes to my setup time mostly consisting of me confessing to being an @*$# and promising I'll be nicer in the future.

From my observation, I've noticed that there's no benifit to rushing to get your boat rigged. What's a few minutes extra? Any adjustment is a lot easier to make on land. Just ask the guys that you see hobble back to the beach to do something they forgot to do the first time. The fastest I've seen it done is about half an hour, and that was an A-Cat. Well, there is a guy that comes down on a Wave that does it in about the same time. Both sailors are veterans (15 yrs+) and have their systems down to a "T." This is my third year sailing and with all the modifications I've made to my boat, I'm just getting to the point where I'm getting it rigged in what I call a "reasonable amount of time." The Pacific Ocean produces some pretty rough conditions sometimes and can also be very unforgiving. I'm aware that the fact that I use a mast bag extends my rigging time considerably (I always rig solo) but that's just something I'm willing to deal with. Peace of mind is what I look for most on the water. That allows me to have "MORE FUN."

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Happy Sailing,

David

Fastest-30 minutes. Most often about 45. It is Zen thing. Lose yourself in the moment. Getting ready to be "one with the wind". It's just time I pay to enjoy the time sailing. This is always done solo even when I have some help around. The last time I let someone help, my mast came down. He couldn't figure out the fancy ring dings on the shroud pin. I do let someone help me take the mast out of the travel position, but I always take the butt end and pin it.

A Zen thing is absolutely right. I take my time to avoid getting frustrated and allow the anticipation to build. When I rush something always seems to go wrong like dropping a pin or shackle. The time spent at the launch of dock rigging is a great opportunity to bond with fellow sailors. Total time is 30-40 mins, under 30 with experienced help!

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1972 H16 Sail #10420

At the beginning of the season after my father-in-law put the boat away from the previous season -> 2 - 3 hours. I have to figure out where he put stuff while muttering why he didn't put everything together instead of strewn about the vacation house; why did he disconnect the shrouds and forestay from the mast after I coiled them on the tramp and mix them up with old standbys of a different length?; I can understand loosening the battens but not why he would remove the tie lines altogether and hide them deep in a different sail bag; I'll throttle him if he takes the pliers out of the Hobie specific tool box and mixes it in with his myriad unorganized tool boxes again; I swear the mast step pin was there last year but I've got to use a nail this year; why?! Why?! WHY?! did he disconnect the jib sheet from the forestay chainplate/bridle wire and where the @#$%@# did he put it!

Sounds like I'm in the ballpark so won't be concerned about it anymore. Thanks all, for your input.

at the risk of sounding pompous, which I am REALLY not trying to do,
I have found that while racing over 20 years, there are lots of times you show up late and need to rig in a hurry, (which makes you pretty efficient at setting the boat up)...
plus you watch all the other folks and pick up tips from them.

I prob. average 15 minutes from ariving at the launch site, to sailing off the beach, and do not feel rushed at all...could do it in 10 minutes if I'm really pushing,.
Not trying to disparage anyone, but my zen is in the water, sailing, not hanging out in the parking lot. I think most racers are in the same time to set up as I am .

my prcoedure-

rudders are already on the boat- add 2-3 minutes if they are not.

untie standing rigging ( I loop all of it on the tramp, and use the jib sheet to tie it all up, I;ll post pic if I can find it,)
pull mast into postion, set mast base pin
put mast up, place pin in forestay (by crew)
take tie downs off hull
crew hands sails up onto boat, skipper places them on tramp.
drop boat into water, crew parks car and brings trapezes, hiking stick, life jackets while skipper puts sails up.
Put on life jackets/ trapezes, attach hiking stick w/ quick release pin.
go

non of this feels hurried, or frantic. If racing , I would add time to flip the boat, tweak batten tension, fine tune jib tension, etc, prob 5 more minutes.

I rig windsurfing sails in 5-6 minutes, while my friends take 20...(unless there this no wind, then it takes me much longer!..why hurry?).....may be the engineer in me, but I love to simplify procedures so there is no wasted movement.

If you want to lay back and take much longer to rig, and thats what relaxes you or gets you in the zone, thats very cool too.. everyone has their own way of using sailing to make their life better.

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Raced extensively as a kid (against Matt Bounds!!), just bought a 20 year old 16 and am refurbishing it.

Sail # 21888

Big difference when you don't have a crew:

2. I mostly sail alone so do EVERYTHING singlehanded-
- I am not a young stud anymore and lifting the mast is a pain, literally, so I rely on a stepping rig.
- I get everything out of the sail tube or car- running back and forth and around the boat and trailer takes time
- I rig everything
- I drive the car, launch the boat, and pull the boat over to the beach.
- I then walk back to the car and trailer and drive them from the ramp to the parking area, then walk back to the boat to finish rigging, etc.

All those little things that an experienced crew does on his/her own or helps you with, I do myself. But I am getting faster, but don't want to be beat by the time I shove off. I leave the house with as much of the boat rigged as possible and stowed for easy rigging.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057