Hobie 14 mainsail number of battens change from 5 to 6?

Hi Hobie Folks,

The Hobie 14 I own has a five batten mainsail ie the sale consists of six sections sewn together however most pictures I have seen have the mainsail with six battens / seven section.
The sale on my H14 looks too small for the boat please see pictures in the following thread:

https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=51162

So is it a case that Hobie changed the sail plan sometime into production from five to six battens or do I have a sail thats from a completely different Hobie altogether?

I am pretty sure the 14 is a very early one but cannot be entirely sure.

Thanks,
SRG

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Hobie 14 Turbo (~1979)
Hobie 16 Carumba (1983)
Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)

The sail changed in the 80's to a 6 batten that is a bit more powerful.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks for confirming.

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Hobie 14 Turbo (~1979)
Hobie 16 Carumba (1983)
Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)

The 5-batten sail in your photo is not one made by Hobie Cat.

The star-shaped sailmaker's patch at the tack is a dead giveaway.

But Matt M. is correct - the original Hobie 14 main had 5 battens. In the early '80s, it was changed to 6 battens that lined up with the seams in the main - just like the 16's sail. A lot easier/faster to make, and as it turns out - it's a faster sail.

Hobie 14 sails changed from 5 to 6 battens in 1983, the 6 batten sail is around 12 sq ft larger than a 5 batten. Those 12 extra feet don't seem to help me, I get beat by plenty of sailors sporting 5 batten sails!

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85 Hobie 14 "mello yello"

The sails are not that dissimilar. In fact, Hobie Cat tried to make the 6-batten sails as comparable as possible to the 5-batten when they were introduced.

When I overlaid a photo of an old 5-batten sail on a modern 6-batten in Photoshop, there were some differences - the 6 batten main has more roach, but the material came from the foot/clew, which has been raised to allow more mast rake.

But there's no way there's a 12 sq. ft. difference. The total main sail area is only 112 sq. ft. - 12 sq. ft. is a significant difference.

Yeah, I didn't think so...doesn't pass the eyeball test. I was quoting a hotline article from the July '87 issue on tuning.

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85 Hobie 14 "mello yello"

Must admit, that's a great sales pitch

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1984 H16 "Mister Rogers"
1984 H14 "Sundays"
2000 H20 "Jet"
Sheet In, Max Out

Sorry for the late reply, just wanted to say thanks for comments.

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Hobie 14 Turbo (~1979)
Hobie 16 Carumba (1983)
Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)