New to sailing & hobies - couple questions

I just bought a 1976 Hobie 16. It has homemade wing seats, mast bob, new jib (in orange even), and meshing between the tramps. Got it for a decent deal and I've been wanting to get into sailing.

I've been out on large (er) Tanzer's and other yatchs but never a cat before. After looking at the boat I have a few questions.

There is a tang looking thing on the boom, it looks like it would be to attach a line to the mast maybe but I cannot find any other 16's with this part in pics nor a line attaching this to the mast. I'm not sure what I should do with it, just leave it?


The arrow points to that little guy. Is it used to help keep the main sail tensioned up nicely?

The next question, like this diagram shows, the tiller connects to the control rod behind the downhaul. Maybe I'm ignorant, or maybe its because I haven't got the boat near water yet, but how in a tack do you transfer this to the otherside? do you let go and throw the tiller around? That seems VERY awkward. On the little lazers and stuff, the tiller is underneath the traveller rope for the mainsail.. Different then on this hobie.


And in regards to trapezing. For now I have the wing seats to lean back into and I can get fairly far out just by moving up into them, but I eventually would like to learn how to trapeze. The boat came with some wire stuff in a bag, the owner told me its a single trapeze system, no harness. Should I just ditch this stuff and buy a new double trapeze wire system and harnesses? Whats a decent harness for someone to learn with?

Thanks for any help in advance... I feel so new and feel like there is so much to learn. bah! overwhelming haha

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'76 Hobie 16

That's an old boom vang tang (say that fast three times). Nobody uses a vang on cats anymore. We figured out it was faster to broad reach than to sail deep downwind.

The hiking stick connects to the tiller crossbar. You just toss the stick around behind the mainsheet when tacking or jibing.

There's nothing wrong with a single trap system. If the wires, handles and such are in good shape, use them. You can add a second set of trap wires and the associated hardware later if you want.

I would not try to trap off of the wings.

A decent harness is one that is comfortable. Both Hobie and Murrays Marine have excellent harnesses. Visit your local dealer.

Brian C

so.. day 1 of hobie ownership, while stepping the mast down for trailering.. I had a mast fall down onto my head. It pretty much drove me into the beach like a nail into a piece of wood and earned me four staples to the head. Lots of blood and possibly a mild concussion.

Damn cat.

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'76 Hobie 16

I wouldn't blame the boat. Why did it fall?

Who told you to stand directly underneath it?

It was our fault I know. My buddy had a rope to the top of the mast attached. He had a good position out from the boat to hold it. I jumped off the tramp to get on the ground to continue lowering the mast. Thats when the soft sand my friend was standing on gave out and he slipped while losing control of the rope. I was not below the mast, I don't know if the wind caught it or something but I was off to the left side of the boat and it still came down on me. I even had that hobie mast stepping tool falcrum thing in, which I thought was to prevent the mast from turning.

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'76 Hobie 16

Sorry to hear about your acccident, I had a similar mishap when I first bought my 16 except that i was lowering the mast solo and forgot to put the pin in. I would recccomend getting yourself a H16 Manual because they cover the proper technique for raising and lowering the mast in detail. (My $0.02)
Hope you feel better....[/quote]

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~vinny

Don't feel too bad. The first time I tried to lower my mast, I stepped off the back of the tramp.....with the boat still on the trailer. Broke the mast base and got a nasty cut on my leg. My ego was a little bent too.

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2005 Hobie 16 - Ventura Nationals Boat #21
http://www.JackieandAlan.com

Welcome to the club! After you get a little dialed in you'll have so much fun with this boat you won't believe it!

First, go here and read the whole thing:

http://static.hobiecat.com/2010_archive/support/pdfs/H16_Manual.pdf

Now, let's focus on raising and lowering the mast. Go to page 8 and read on.

Notice that there was nothing about a line to the mast head for raising or lowering. I have seen that sort of set up cause the mast fall to to side almost every time. When that happens it will either break the mast base, step or link. That sideways falling is what I assume happened to your boat. So stay away from that technique for now. Of course experienced guys sometimes use the forestay to give a little help.
One thing not mentioned in the raising instructions is that it's helpful to have someone on the ground to hand the mast up (or down when lowering) to the other person standing on the tramp. Saves the lower back.

The best way to figure all this stuff out is to hook up with your local fleet or at least other Hobie sailors in your area. They should be able to teach you some tricks.

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Sail Revolution
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another new question, my jib halyard cleat needs to be replaced. It doesn't look like a screw on. how do i do that?

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'76 Hobie 16

Drill out the old rivets. Buy Murray's part #01-1019 that includes the cleat, rivets and rivet casings. Install.

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Could you direct me to an online store that sells those Murray's parts?

Also, do I need some sort of tool for the rivets? I've never done them before.

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'76 Hobie 16

You do need a rivet gun. they are cheep. I think mine was $12 at Ace or Homedepot. Make sure that you just drill off the rivet head then pound the rivet through. if you drill all the way into the alumineum you will risk making the hole too large for your new rivet.

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1979 Hobie 16

I always have my wife tie a line to the forestay and walk out quite a ways, about 20 or more feet, to help get the mast up, she then attaches the forestay while I hold the mast.
Make sure your mast link is in the 16 hole and not the 14 hole, this will cause problems also.
Yes the mast will wobble a little bit, hold the mast as high as you can and make sure your shrouds do not get caught on the rudders or crossbars.
Make sure your shrouds are long enough so you can attatch the forestay. I bought new shrouds and when I tried to raise the mast it turned out the forestay was too short to connect. The reason for this is that the new shouds are a different length than the old ones, so I had to add another 10 hole adjuster to the forestay.
It helps a lot if the boat is angled down "slightly", but not too much, wind will also affect you when you raise the mast so try not to have it in the cross wind.
If you did not hurt your mast base too bad you can reattach it by drilling new holes and installing new rivits, make sure you put silicone over the rivits and old holes so your mast does not leak.
Good luck,
John

http://www.murrays.com/

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