To much wind?

I was out with my brother on my hobie 14 in 30-35 kt. winds. We are both about 170lbs. I am not ashamed to admit it ... I was a little timid going out in winds like this. I left the sail all the way open close reach to try and keep the speed and power down. Every time there was a gust it forced the pontoons down like it wanted to pitchpole. To much weight, wind, or blame myself for not trying to haul ass and fix the damage later?

Yes - at 340 lbs total, that's waaaay too much for the 14, even on a calm day. That's even a lot for a 16.

Combine that with the wind and you hace a recipe for a broken boat or worse.

Yeah, you are asking for trouble. Unless you are an expert that is a injury to either you or the boat waiting to happen.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

A buddy and I did the same thing last fall on my 14. It's flat out scary. The boat can't decide which way it wants to capsize.

That was how I broke a shroud on my 14, be glad you had two people on it. Solo that much wind is impossible.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

You mean you didnt hit 50 knts close reach with two of you out on the trap? Pfft.

I tried a sun fish in 20knt winds with similar results. Pat yourself on the back for making it back to shore OK.

340lbs too much for the 16? Isnt 300lbs the minimum crew requirement for 16 racing? Hell, we had 3 adults and two kids on my friend's 16 in light wind and never had a problem.

I really hope I can carry more than 200lbs on my 14. I'd like to take a friend or two out.

280 is the minimum on the 16. It's just about the min needed to right it. If you and your crew total 280.1 lbs you're about perfect.

I've had myself 149lbs
My brother 235lbs
his 2 daughters 220lb total

A 16 will carry 604 lbs, but it becomes more of a submarine loaded like that. Perhaps Matt is talking more about race trim. You wouldn't be too competitive racing at 340 lbs. I think the 14 was designed for someone lighter than me even.

You can sail the Hobie 14 with 300 hundred on it but it is kinda slow.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Minimum crew weight for racing on the 16 is 285#. Performance really starts to suffer when you get over 330#.

That's not to say you couldn't carry 3 or four people on the boat - it'll just drive like a truck instead of a sports car.

Same for the 14, except that the weights are proportionately lower. The 14 used to have a minimum crew weight of 150 for racing, but that was removed a few years ago. Now there is none.

I like that analogy. Thanks.

No need to roll tack or fly the trap with the Girl on board or a friend or two with little or no sailing experence.

I remember one day my dad and I were out on my Hobie 14 standard. I was trapped out, he was between my legs on the rail, all the way aft. Total about 350lbs crew weight. Barely kept the thing from pitchpoling, it was blowing 25-30. We were FLYING though. I have been solo in 30+ (yes, a real 30+, a tropical storm was blowing in), and it was wicked. Too wicked. That was before I had trap wires, but I would say they would have been useless, too little control.

Its hard enough when its blowing nearly 20 and there are 5 foot swells to get on the wires. I did it Saturday and net result=$300+ in boat damage for 5 minutes of fun. I'm seriously considering windsurfing gear or a monohull over the 14 for solo sailing.

Last weekend, my friend and I took my standard 14 out in wind measured at Force 6 (25-30 mph). He weighs about 120-130 lbs, I weigh 150. I was glad that I wasn't solo, because I needed his weight. This was lake sailing, so we didn't have to worry so much about swells. We almost pitchpoled once (water came up to the front of the tramp), along with numerous close calls. I know that atleast one 16 capsized, but I didn't notice any other cats out. I kept the traveller centered to keep the sail powered up at first, becuse we were having so much fun, but eased it as the wind strengthened. That was one wild ride, and a seriously exciting sail Definately one for the memory books.

To add perspective, just this weekend, my friend (175#) and I (190#) went out sailing on my 14T in 18-20 knots with 2 ft choppy swells. We were zipping all over the place. We may not have been getting maximum speed, but because of the chop, and how low we were riding with the ridiculous weight, we had to be really conservative on the speed. The swells were at just the right size so that once we came over one, we would be crashing into the next with all our weight. I was skippering from the rear corner, barely on the boat, and he was "cuddling" next to me to keep the bow from digging completely in, and just so that it only went through, and not down.

So, on the plus side, we were out for a few hours, had a great time, and didnt break any of my year-old rigging, or put a noticable amount of strain on anything (except for my arms, been about a month too long since I sailed last).

However, on the other hand, we used barely half of the wind potential. GPS clocked the max at 17 mph or something I think, and out of 18-20 knot winds (according to the harbor weather station, not even the bay wind profile) that means I could have gone by myself and alot faster. And we did have to be very careful of the bows with all the total weight.

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Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"