new to catamaran

hey guys and gals. i have recently purchased a very used 14. i have been sailing a 31 foot keelboat cruiser and a super snark and a bauer sailing dinghy. have never been on a cat. please explain to me how loose the rigging should be and explain mast rotation. please talk to me like i am 2, so that i will understand. i am gonna put her in the water on tue and hope she floats.

thanks in advance,
Mike

Looser stays in heavyier wind, tighter in lighter wind.

thanks for the response, but like i said. talk to me like i am 2

The stays are the wires that hold up the mast. In heavy wind you want them to be looser and in light wind you want them to be tighter, this is controlled by what hole you put the pin in when you attach the stays.

On the 14 keep weight towards the rear of the boat except for when you are tacking because when you tack the 14 it can be blown over backwards if you are to far back.

Also on the 14 do not let the bows dip underwater or you will learn in a hurry what a pitchpole is. They can be fun and slightly useful if you want to remove passengers but they also can hurt.

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

Measuring the stay tightness:
With the mast up, grab one of the shrouds with your fist and rotate your wrist. In heavy air, you should be able to turn your wrist 90 degrees; in light air - 45 degrees.

Mast rotation:
The basic principle is that the mast rotates to provide a more streamlined air flow into the sail. On a 14, it's a no-brainer - just let the mast rotate by itself (make sure to remove the mast step link if you have one - really old 14's don't).

There's a great tuning guide by multiple national and world champion Bob Curry here: http://www.hobiecat.com/support/tech/h14tuning.html

Matt- Is the looser stays so that the sail dumps more of the air? Kind of a false heeling of the boat, but only the rig? Faster or not when I'm out screwing around I don't like having the rig real loose. I end up getting T-bagged everytime at the end of a gust. Or maybe I just need to read the wind better.

By the way- How the heck do you tack one of these in heavy air. It was blowing close to 25mph yesterday, and I think I had 1 (one), decent tack. I was screaming along flying a hull lightly, then I sheated hard got it higher, and moved the tiller fairly agressively. Swung in from the wire, uncleated the main, and by the time I was on the other side I was accelerating again. My other 30 tacks during the day sucked. Half I ended up backing up to make the turn. I have almost no problems in probably 15 and under. I also was traveled out 4-6 inches from center. Is this holding me back from pointing as high as I can?

I was running with out the jib. I'm pretty sure the jib would've been suicide in that wind. I don't sail my 14 nearly enough and I'm trying to get some practice in for nationals.

Ah...the memories, trying to tack the old 14 without a jib. It is about as difficult as being the guy to leave the bar with the hot bartender. But it can be done.

Rather than forcefully moving the rudder over gently sweep it over and steer through an a big U shaped turn rather than pivoting like a monohull will.

Other than that... pray

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

Steering through the tack and letting the main way out(2-3ft)as you pass head to wind. Head down and sheet in slow until you are moving, then come up and sheet in.
If the main is to tight you weather vane into irons.

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY

thanks a lot. i am gonna take her out tomorrow and hope i keep the mast up and the hulls in the water

Don't hope for that because if you do not tip over then you are not sailing hard enough!

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

ok, guys and gals, just got back from maiden voyage. SHE FLOATS!!!!!!! hulls didnt leak and other than spending 1/2 the time in irons, had a blast. the rudders keep coming up though. there are small hook looking things, but pins just sit on top and dont engage. couldnt tack, but that seems to be normal. didnt get a hull up, but did get her flying. dont think i'll need a trap any time soon. was a LOT of weather helm, maybe due to just having one rudder in most of the time. any help here?

thanks again,
Mike

Your rudder cams are in the locked down position (those are the black hook-like thingies).

Read this to learn how to deal with them: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=467

You'll have way too much weather helm until you fix them.

thanks again. just got back from fixing them. thought i broke the tip off. got a small line and put under upper lever. jerked up and wahoo!, it opened. when i looked at it, looked like i broke off the little lever. upon further inspection, it was just hidden. lubed them and they seem to work fine now. cant wait til next tuesday to get her out again. other than being tangled in mainsheet and not tacking, was a GREAT day.
thanks again,
Mike