Hull Flying.

Ok, winds up, sheet in, set jib. Scootin' and rudders start humming , the hull starts to lift, bring it up to the balance point, I slide over the rail and sit on the sidebar and hull, pulling and pushing the hotstick and adjusting main to stay up, eventually the cat slows and slows then comes to a deadstop, still doing the balancing act, then I either go over or drop the hull back into the water, then do it all again. Shuold I turn into the wind or turn downwind? It's a blast, but I'd to fly a hull all the way across the lake on one hull! Thanks.
PS:I'm looking for a resonable priced mainsail for sale, thanks.

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[color=#4000FF]1974 Hobie 16 (Keepin 4 my sons)

Sounds like you need to head off the wind (down or footing off) to keep you going... which means you may need to sheet out a bit as well to keep you from going over.

Eventually you will be able to just keep the main sheeted the same and control the height of the hull out of the water just by either heading up or footing off in complete control and keeping your speed...

You are on the edge of even much more fun Grasshopper Keep practicing!

The more the hull lifts up out of the water the less sail space you are able to use. There is a "sweet spot" on a hobie16, and I think it is with the hull about 3 foot out of the water. Anything more than that, I feel my boat slow down. If you have a constant pour, and you go more than about 4 feet up (the hull out of the water 4 or more feet) there should be less wind actually hitting the main sail because the tramp on the boat is catching a lot of the wind. THEN when you go really tall on a heavy pour, the wind will actually grab the lifted hull/tramp, and throw you over like a little (censored) Obviously it depends on the angle you decide to take with the wind etc. and how high you really want to fly your hull.

As a kid, I LOVED to just go out and try to fly a hull to its tipping point, and try to balance the boat (literally just sitting there almost at a full stall, and see how long I could hold it:):) by working the main sheet.... I would go out there for hours doing this:) I am glad to see that you like doing this also.

First you need to find the sweet spot on your hobie (the balance act) but to not actually stall the boat. THis is easier without trapping out. THe steady wind is key to this. Keeping the boat moving is obviously important. Get her up but keep her moving. I found as a kid that being fast with the main sheet and turning just downwind I could ride a hull for over 5 minutes without dropping it. Now that I am older, The best feeling is hiked out about 3 feet up pulling serious speed, and trying to keep the nose out of the water while working the main sheet.,

Its kinda like riding a wheelie on a bmx bike. Once you find that perfect balance spot, you can ride it FOREVER. There are more variables on a Hobie 16, but the same concept none-the-less.

God I wish I were young again:)

Hull flying = slow sailing. If you are into speed then just skimming the windward hull is best. Flying is fun, but slow. Best this season has been 21.6 mph.