New catamaran sailer

Hello everyone. My brother and I towed home a Hobie Cat 16 a couple of days ago, our sailing experience is zero, but we are both avid boaters and fisherman. We live near South Padre Island, TX where there are lots of these little cats sailing the bay, so I want to play! It's an '86, in pretty good shape...a couple of spots to repair on the keel of one hull, no biggie as i'm in the middle of another fiberglass boat restoration, and in need of alot of tlc and cleaning. The sails were kept in a garage and are in good shape as far as I can tell, no tears and material feels fresh and not dryed out or rotted at all. The trampoline is good, ropes holding it together not so good. The tiller crossbar is cracked in the middle but still holding, so that needs to be changed. It is complete, after some research it looks like I have all the parts for rigging, and sitting on a nice galvanized trailer. The price was way too cheap to pass up, I saw a used main sail on ebay and the bids were at 355, 50 bucks more and we've got a whole boat. I look forward to meeting you all and learning as much as I can.

WELCOME!! Congratulations. You will have a blast!

Here are a few good links to help you get started:

http://www.hobiecat.com/experience/learn.html

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/index-sail.html

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/H16_Manual.pdf

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Congratulations! You're going to be hooked before you know it!

Congrats, and welcome to the dumbest and most gratifying thing you've ever done. By the way where's the mast???

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Happy Sailing,

David

Welcome, from another Texas Hobie sailor (still learning). Enjoy your cat and read the Hobie support page. Tons of great info.

The Great Texas 300 just started in your neck of the woods and finished today at Galveston. Its a 300 mile catamaran race.

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Thanks for the warm welcome. I love the amount of information that these sites have, i've spent hours reading and come out feeling a little more confident that I can do this. The mast is sitting next to the boat on a flatbed trailer in those pics, I had been cleaning the trampoline. The mast is all aluminum, no fiberglass top, but looks good as far as I can tell. All of the rivets are clean and tight, and the steel cables are in good condition but haven't been used for a long time. The P.O. says he bought it 7 years ago and used it twice, last time in the water was about 5 years ago. With that in mind should I change the steel cables even though they look good?

Hey Chop....Welcome aboard! You're gonna have a BLAST with the boat. I have a 86 H16 that I bought in the spring of 2000....my first sailboat. Its the best money I've spent in a LONG time. They're easy to sail and if you have people nearby sailing Hobies, they are more often than not happy to answer any questions you have. There are some great books out on sailing Hobies, and I recommend picking one up...it cleared up a bunch of questions I had about sailing it. ENJOY and ALWAYS wear a floatation vest....ROCK ON!

It is important to be sure the mast doesn't leak. There are methods of checking that were described in the book on Hobie sailing that I had. I would also check the bow tangs. I had one fail and the mast came down while I was out on the wire. It isn't the only one that I have seen fail. The most common replacement needed is the plastic rudder cams. If they have already been replaced, there will be a screw head at the pivot point. If not, it will be rivetted and require drilling it out and replacing with the small S/S screws. It is a good idea to carry spare cams with you. I have owned my boat since it was new in '85 and have sailed a lot in lakes and the ocean. I am amazed at how little repair I have had to do. I did wear out the bottom dragging it on the sand but a repair made by a friend has stood up for several years. You will enjoy the boat and it is addictive.

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Howard

They suggest replacing standing rigging every 5 years, I just did it, and with a couple new ropes I just spent a bit over $300 from the local dealer. I know you can get sets cheaper online on ebay or saltydogmarine.com but, I prefer to support my local Hobie dealer. But IMHO, inspect the rigging, inspect the shackles, inspect pins that hold everything together, and if they seem good, no major corrosion or erosion, you're probably fine for a while. Honestly, I bought new rigging as insurance, but I would still trust my old wires. Sometimes I think I could have spent the money on other parts, but again, that's why its called insurance. BTW, rope is expensive....

Anywho, welcome, and make sure the tops of the hulls are rigid. Bottom jobs are easy, just make sure you gelcoat when ur done. I did a bottom job and didn't know how to gelcoat, and didn't have the tools either, so I just left it... Sailed great about a dozen times, then water seeped in and I had to do it again... lol oh well. Was way easier the second time, I had experience.

Congrats on your new Hobie. I'm in the market for a catamaran myself. I had a line on an '83 Hobie 16 for $825 but she sold it before I had a chance to go see the boat. I'm not sure exactly what size of cat I need. I'm 6'2" 250lbs and will mainly sail alone, probably in the local large lake but after some experince might make it to the Port Aransas area. I have been looking at Hobie 16, Prindle 16 -18 or a NACRA 5.0. Not sure which would be the best as far as stability, ease of use and carrying capacity? I'm also hoping to spend around 1k or less (if possible to find a decent one for that).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Steve