What is the distance between both hulls on a '82 HCat 16

Took apart both the trailer and 1982 HCat 16 for winter storage and repairs. Started to re-build the trailer with new cross bars and realized I never measured where the rollers were on the old cross members, which were tossed. Can anyone tell me the distance from mid-line (keel) of the starboard hull to the mid-line of the port hull so I can attach the rollers in the correct location on the cross bars?

Quentus,

Check your forum topic "Need help finding trailer cross bar for 1981 Hobie Cat" from November 25, 2016.

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=59554

I posted a picture of my rebuilt trailer with 8' wide cross members for my 1982 H16. You can see from the photos where I placed the rollers in relation to the ends of each cross member.

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

Thanks Tim, but I ended up not purchasing the rollers that you have on your trailer. I am staying with the stock rollers that are only about 5 inches in width. Even with your picture, its hard to judge where I will need to place the rollers so that the keel of each hull will be in the dead center of the rollers.

If it is not too much to ask, would you be able to measure the distance from the end of the cross bar to the very middle of your rollers? That would help me get an exact idea as to the placement of my rollers - assuming of course your trailer is still parked outside your home as it is in the picture.

The keel will never end up exactly at the center of the rollers unless you change the angle of the upright roller.

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

I did not think this would be too difficult of a question. It appears that we are getting lost in the semantics of my question. cpnsoo, you apparently have an 80 and 83 HCat 16 (close enough to an 82). Would you be so kind to simply go outside with your measuring tape and measure the distance between the center of your starboard hull roller to the center of your port hull roller - bow or stern - doesn't matter to me. I'm not sure how to make it any more simple than that.

Thanks

My boats aren't stored at home and it's freezing out. Anyway the last time I made adjustments on roller locations I found that the front and rear needed different dimensions to exact center. This was on a trailer using bow stops instead of the front rollers. All years of 16s should have the same width on the keels. I have a couple of trailers that need work and will probably use bow stops on the front of those also. With bow stops on the front you need the exact center, rollers not so much. Next spring when I'm working on my trailers I'll Have to get exact dimension. I have to roll my 85 over to work on it and will just measure the hulls then. I believe they are slightly wider at the front, so you have to allow the rear rollers to be wide enough for the front to clear the uprights as it goes onto the trailer.

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JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

OK, I am going to throw this out there, but it is unverified. I was working on my trailer last year and I am about 95% sure that I measured 7' almost exactly between the bottom point of the hulls under the pylons.

Does that info give you enough to center the rollers?

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

Unfortunately I can not keep my '82 H16 at this house (the single car garage door opening is 7'11" and my Hobie is exactly 8' wide), I will try to use it this weekend and get some measurements for you. I do not think the widths between the bottoms of the hulls are the same for the bow and stern. That is why I went with the wider bottom rollers. You don't want the bows to roll off the inside edges of the rollers when pulling the boat onto or off of the trailer.

I call my boat a "1982" because one of the hulls has a "82F" stamped on the transom and the other hull has no markings and is of a different vintage (found this out when I installed rear access ports to repair my gudgeons and found the type of glue to hold the hulls together was different, one was black and the other was red). My boat is a "Frankenstein" boat.

7 years ago I epoxied my frame using the following procedure by Gary Wilcox (Oct 1998 On the Wire).

http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=news&func=display&sid=82&from=2003-10-13%2020:08:17&urltitle=how-to-epoxy-hobie-16-catamaran-frame-for-better-performance&__CATEGORIES__%5BMain%5D=Array&__CATEGORIES__%5BTopic%5D=Array

I did the project while the boat was on the trailer and made sure the boat was level by placing a straight 2x4 across the tips of the bows and another one across the sterns and then adjusted the height of the hulls so both 2x4s were level. Then to check for symmetry I measured the diagonal distance between left hull's Bow tang bolt to right hull's rudder pin center and matched it to other cross direction. I also made sure the pylons were vertical and that the cross beams were fully inserted into the corner castings while the epoxy cured.

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

This might help you. My boat sits on the trailer, so that the trailer crossbars are directly under the front pylons and the rear pylons of the boat.

From outer edge, to outer edge, of the keels on the front pylons is 85 inches.

From outer edge, to outer edge, of the keels on the rear pylons is 86 inches.

If you have 5" rollers, and they have the tapered nubs on the ends, ( thicker outer rubber diameter on each end, giving it a dumb bell look ) you are going to want to add about an 1 1/4 inch to each end (or what ever width yours are). So outer rubber edge to outer rubber edge, Front will now be approx. 87 1/2 inches and rear 88 1/2 inches.

That should put you right in the ballpark of where you want to be. Just don't wrench them down real tight, until you get the boat on first, place it exactly where you want it on the trailer, and make any minor adjustments.

My boat is a 79', it should be the same distances or close.

You don't want to be dead center on each roller, more like outer 1/3rd, if they have the 45 degree angle up roller guides on them. Unless its a personal preference thing or you have those tapered v design.

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79 H16 #46803

Quentus,


My boat sits best on my trailer when the front pylons are about 4" forward of the trailer's front rollers.

Measurements for my '82 H16.

At the front roller the hulls bottom edge distance apart is 84.5"

At the rear roller the hulls bottom edge distance apart is 86.5"

The bow tang bolts distance apart is 78.5"

You wanted to know the L to R distance between the center lines of my rollers (77"), this is the same for front or back rollers. This distance only applies to 12" long rollers and will not be meaningful with 5" rollers..

If you are using 5" rollers you have to be careful that the bows do not roll off of the front or rear rollers when you pull the boat up onto or off of the trailer, since the bows tips are 8" closer together than the hull bottom edges are at your rear pylons.

The whole point of this is that it is probably best if you put your boat on the trailer and then adjust the spacing of your rollers by trial and error by rolling the boat forward and backward until you find the ideal spacing that works for you.

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

Thank you to everyone who who chimed in. I figured there was going to be some adjusting after initially placing the rollers since I only have 5in wide rollers and the distances will vary. The measurements you all have provided will get me started. I'm going to keep the roller loose (not too loose) enough to where I can make fine adjustments once the hulls are seated on the rollers. Still kicking myself for not having just taken the measurements before taking the trailer apart.

Do any of you have concerns over the point loading of the rollers over time? I was so concerned at one point that I was going to replace the front rollers with a lengthwise 2x8 with guides and carpet on them that swivel on the front roller axles. In other words, remove the 10" roller off the axle, then mount a 14" piece of 2x8 using conduit clamps. Then take a 14" 2x6 that was ripped lengthwise at a 45' angle so that when you put it on the 2x8 it leave a V shape track, then carpet that. I never ended up doing it, but still think it makes sense for a future project, unless I drop the cash to get the cradles.

I normally don't roll it too much on the front roller anyway. I walk the front of the boat back and set it on the front rollers. This still allows the rear rollers to roll.

Any thoughts? Am I out of my mind?

_________________
Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

Wow, all of this sounds really overly complicated. My boat sits on an Ez Loader trailer that has rollers with the guides at the rear only and "V" shaped rubber cradles at the front. When unloading the boat, I walk the boat back lifting up on the front of the tramp frame and usually have someone to help me get the beach wheels under the boat as it comes off the trailer. Balance is the key. Loading the boat is just the reverse. Roll the boat up to the trailer on the beach wheels until it gets on the rear rollers then balance the boat, walk to the front and pull and lift to the cradles. I've been thinking of adding a small hand cranked winch to the mast support beam to make things a bit easier.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

I like the idea of using the rubber "V" cradles in the front. I assume those are just the boat trailer type normally used at the front of a power boat trailer?

Your process of loading and unloading is exactly what I was picturing.

_________________
Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

Yes, the rubber cradles on my trailer look to be like standard ones I have seen in boating stores. They are a large "v" shape and are bolted to the crossbar of the trailer using "U" bolts.

_________________
Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.