Hobie 16 Tuning Guide

Hi. New to Hobie's but I have been lurking around the forum for a while. I have an old beater in the back yard which may or may not make it through the first sail. That will be done with a chase boat and a friend instead of with my family as I am not sure I will be able to stiffen up the starboard hull enough with the delam fix.

I have searched pretty hard for a tuning guide for the Hobie 16 and have found some vague guidelines but nothing too concrete. The best one I have seen mentions setting your rake in a range of 4"!

The Hobie website sites a shroud length of 19' 1/4" and people refer to a length of 19'. I could see bridle lengths varying from the factory. The class is old enough that boats have varying hardware attaching the rigging to the hulls. These are reasons why I find it hard to follow some of the guides I have read. I am hoping I will run across something that looks like...

Finding base setting would happen with shrouds pinned in hole "x". Tension the jib halyard with main down until you get a Loos gauge setting of "x". Lock main halyard with tape measure attached to shackle and measure to some defined point on the transom which should equal "x". Change shroud hole location until Loos gauge setting of "x" gives you the rake measurement of above "x". From there the go-fast guys seem to have a good idea of changing shroud holes to be able to maintain maximum rake with propper jib tension per wind range.

The biggest issue I would see with this concept would be if base shroud tension is low enough to not read on a Loos gauge as people keep refering to shrouds as "snug" instead of tight.

So, after my long-winded first post does anyone have something like this? I am hoping I will enjoy sailing this old thing enough to look for a better one.

Thanks.
Mark

What year boat is it? Pre-84 boats don't rake well. You can't adjust the rudder rake and you end up with pretty massive weather helm.

If it is an older boat with older shrouds, put the side shrouds in the lowest hole. Put the jib in the third hole up on the bridle chain plate. Put about 40 lbs tension on the jib halyard and cleat it off. That should put you in the ball park.

cheers
Bill J

I've got an '81 16 and replaced the standing rigging which allows more mast rake, but the jib isn't cut for the increased rake and so it luffs. I thought the jib was blown, but then I decreased the rake and the luffing stopped.

Bill,

Not sure what year the boat is. Work that someone did on the back of the boat has covered the vin number. I am going to replace the shrouds because of the apparent age of the boat and my lack of historical knowledge of the boat. I will go with the 19' length just because and deduct that 1/4" from your reccomendations on where to pin them.

Good info on the rudders vs. mast rake. When you mention pulling 40lbs on the jib halyard are you talking aussie jib halyard or old 3:1. I just made up an aussie setup.

Thanks.
Mark

If you haven't seen it already, try this one.

http://www.cat44.com/hobie-16-tuning-tips.htm

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Happy Sailing,

David