Mainsheet is ruining my marriage.. and that dolly too.

Hi - new here - and just had my maiden sail yesterday. I bought a 2018 lightly used TI. We did OK, a little sore today peddling upwind to sail back (the wind mostly died by time we turned around, Lake Hodges in San Diego). I had all sorts of frustrations, most of which got resolved right then, and some lingering issues might be resolved after spending all morning reading the forum. (For example, I found it ridiculously hard to steer the boat, and reading about this today, it's probably because I didn't cleat the rudder in the down position.)

Anyway. The <insert profanity here> mainsheet. Ugh, I learned it can get caught up on my chair (in the back), I learned that it can slap my face for my wife. I learned that the mainsheet has an attitude.

Here are some thing that happened - what am I doing wrong!?

- Sail won't unfurl all of the way. I'm tugging and tugging, mast is bending. I'm in the back. The mainsheet has a knot in the end of it for the front seat - the mainsheet is pulled all of the way through to the end knot. I say to my wife, "oh sweetie, can you grab that line and pull it back. No, not that line. The black line. That's brown. Wha? OK it is gold. I'm not talking down to you, please pull that black line. Yes, that one, with the knot." BAM! That sail opened right up.

- Eventually, due to going upwind, gusts from various directions (Really testing it all and learning), I've furled and unfurled the sail a few times. And what do you know - the <profanity> mainsheet is once again at the end in the front, and my wife, once again, has to pull it back.

What is wrong that, from the rear seat, I run out of rope? I have a pile of it right in front of me, yet I run out of mainsheet in the front. Thank you!

Also, I have that worthless dolly (for the cost, it should have an engine). The shoreline is a slope. I put the trailer near the boat, and for the life of my, we could not get the dolly under the boat and then on the trailer. I had to hoist the boat high up in the air so my wife could get the dolly onto the trailer, and then we could finally push/pull the boat up completely. I'm an avid weight lifter, finally a practical application of my strength - but I didn't know all Hobie owners must also be passionate lifters with enormous deltoids.

Thank you so much for responding, I've read through the forum and see how awesomely helpful other owners are.

Hi Ben, glad you & your spouse got out on your TI! We did our first outing this weekend and came back to find the boat nearly impossible to pull up the ramp on the "plug-in cart" (ie- two wheels with two poles). Opened the drain in the back and we had taken on significant water. Opened the rear storage port and watched as it drained out. I think the issue was we didn't secure the front hatch well enough with the bungee and may have taken on water there.

As for rigging, check your main sheet and make sure there are no twists in it. It should run straight and true from the sail back through all the hardware to both the front and rear cam cleat.

It is much easier to roll & unroll the sail with the boat pointed into the wind.

To put the dolly into its holes, try tilting the boat sideways in the water. Or on land, lift up one end of the boat with the other end on a softer surface (like grass or sand).

Hope this helps!

Hello Ben, Sorry about your troubles on the water. The TI works well just give it a try.

With regards to the main sheet, you must have it rigged wrong is all I can surmise, if you are pointed into the wind it should be easy to unfurl the sail. Check here to see if your main sheet line is run properly. The below link is for the front seat. For the rear seat simply pull all the line through the front cam cleat until you have just a wee bit left, tie a knot to keep it from completely running through the cam cleat. Pull the rest of the line through the rear cam cleat.

https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 17&t=44488

The rear seat passenger will always have to deal with the main sheet, the skipper needs to call out commands when tacking, for upwind sailing use "coming about or ready about" this lets your crew know to watch out for that pesky main sheet, down wind gybing you can use "ready to gybe, gybe oh" or whatever you what. Also, many TI sailor use different contraption made out of PVC to raise the main sheet above their heads. I used Hobies H-Bar system, here is a look.

IMG_0670 by Nick Willey, on Flickr

None of the various gizmos that TI owner use to elevate the main sheet are approved by Hobie, I will tell you that mine works very well.

As for the cart I simply install it while the TI is in about 2 foot of water, if you remove the rear drive you can reach through the drive well and flip the cart into the holes, securing the cart with the pin, with practice it becomes very easy to do.

Good Luck

Cheers,
Nick

Ah, thanks for the responses.

After some more research, I'm wondering if there is an issue with mast being twisted (did not know until recently, that it is a 2 part pole). If I pull on the mainsheet in my garage (without the sail installed obviously), it appears that I have PLENTY of sheet length. Yet, out on the water, I can't get it to unfurl, and sometimes if I pull on the mainsheet, I can get a little more sail.

Troubleshooting will continue, but I might have to get it to a dealer. Thankfully in San Diego, there's a great one a short drive away.

So, as Ron told me at Fastlane Sailing in San Diego: "Sailing is a lifelong lesson in humility" I get it.

1) The sail is fine, but requires a tug to get the last few inches out. Just took a few outings to catch on.. Sometimes a tug isn't required, the wind will do it, which is one of the few times it works in my favor..

2) The dolly is hundreds of dollars of pure junk. I just keep it on the tailer as it tilts allowing me to muscle the boat onto the trailer. Funny enough, I've thought a few times "wow, this boat must be too much for a lot of people to play with." And sure enough, yesterday, I met a woman who never takes out her AI, which is smaller, because it's too much for her to manage alone. So she paddle-boards now.

I'm confused by what people are saying about the rear seat and the mainsheet. I'm a tall guy, and the sheet hasn't hit me yet. Is it only a problem on the post 2015 boats with the higher vantage seat?

My first time out, I had almost the exact same issues described here. The sheet was slapping me in the face, and I was about ready to give it up. I was having difficulties furling and completely unfurling. Then I realized it was Operator Error. I had placed the mainsheet under the rear bungees for transport, and I'd forgotten to release it. I felt like an idiot, but on the other hand, problem immediately solved.

From what you described, one issue may be that the main sheet needs to be cleated down at the seat that isn't sailing.

If you're sail is furled and the main sheet isn't cleated in the front seat and you pull the main sheet from the back seat, it won't unfurl the sail, it will just pull all the line from the front seat to the back. The main sheet will be up to the knot, as you say, in the front and you'll be holding a pile of line with an a furled sail.

Hope that helps.

Ah yes, several times I can't unfurl/furl only to see that the sheet is hung up on something around me..

I've been smacked a few times by the sheet, mostly mitigated by keeping 'r tighter during a tack. Maybe I don't even need to uncleat during a tack? Nevertheless, a surprise gust once sent the sail and sheet moving so quickly, I nearly had my sunglasses knocked off my face. I'm almost 6 foot, have the rear seat on the lowest setting.