We have two great new accessories for Hobie Islands!

Just pulled the trigger on an AI SpinKit from Fast Lane.... Thanks.

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2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

[/quote]YAY! Welcome aboard Pete, that's what I have been trying to tell you all along! [/quote]

I've been out three times now with spin, main and jib. The jury is out if I'm going to keep all of theses sails and lines on this boat. If I'm willing to give us a small amount of speed, I can go back to simplicty.

I think the thing with me is that I get bored if I don't have the sails. Down side with all the lines, I'm finding that I'm focusing on the boat now and not the senery or the serenity it provides. Still glad i got the added sail though. Ask me how I feel in 6 months.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

My local Dealer just told me sometime in MAY for my spinnaker kit expected delivery. Looks like first order has been depleted and Hobie is awaiting the next order? I've already paid for mine. I guess if you find someone that has one you better get it while you can.

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2015 TI Hibiscus " Bazinga"
Harbor Freight modified trailer with TI cradles
Heavy duty scupper cart with cradle
Hobie tramps- black

i found my TI kit on ebay, last i checked there was still an AI kit on there as well....

In my video posted above from last weekend with my TI, coming into the marina with a small tail wind and running with the main spread starboard and the spinnaker port , I was passing plenty of nice, beautiful sailboats. Even at slow speed, the passing and waving is fun.

Yes! I noticed this too when I was on the water with the spinnaker. When going downwind, I was definitely keeping up with the regular sailboats that typically would pass me by. I am going to have to buy a new GPS, old one bit the dust. Looking forward to get some solid numbers to share.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

This is similar to what happens with my AI2 and spinnaker. For several days I've been trying to make the spinnaker play nice with the mainsail. When I took it out on the water the first priority was to make sure furling the main was smooth. No go, tangle after tangle. I never did fly the spinnaker on the water. In my driveway the same problem keeps replicating. Similar to the picture vetgam posted of the front line hanging off the topper and grabbing the top of the mainsail.

Some of the wrapping and snagging can get pretty nasty so this could be a potentially dangerous situation. Different islands have different sails so maybe this isn't a problem on the tandems or older AI's. All my batons were shortened as short as possible too. I love the spinnaker and it flies and snuffs beautifully in my driveway. But I absolutely don't want my mainsail disabled in a busy channel or while beaching or when the wind gets too strong and you need to furl but can't. If the spinnaker is flying then this probably won't be a problem because the front halyard line is flying and positioned farther out front away from the mainsail. But if the spinnaker is in the bag this is where the problem is most prevalent because the front line is laying closer to the mast.

One modification I made was adding a snap clip to the halyard line that attaches to the head of the sail which is a quick way of disconnecting the spinnaker and you can possibly roll in main in an emergency snag. Plus the clip makes hoisting and taking down the mast easier. After hoisting, clip the line to the head of the spinnaker.

The only other option I can possibly think of is to relocate the snuffer bag to the outer edge of the tramp which may move the mast topper's front line slightly further outward from the mast but that's probably not a solution. I notice Vetgam has his bag mounted on the outer edge even though the Hobie video shows it in the middle which is what I did. The tangles occasionally happen to the rear topper line too. Those don't seem quite as critical as the front tangle. Might need to bring an extendable pole to dislodge the rear tangles.

It would be nice to hear from other 2015/2016 AI'2's with it installed to see what their tangling experiences are. Any ideas are also appreciated.

You will be hearing from this AI2 owner - probably around the end of this month.

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2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

On my 2015 TI, I also decided to mount the snorkel bag farther out from what the Hobie video showed. On my first trip out, I did not have the tangle issue you articulated with the front of the halyard line. I did notice the limitation of the rear halyard line (back stay) to stop the main from fully moving starboard if the spinnaker is deployed to port on a downwind run. I assume this can be addressed by furling the main under the halyard line (back stay), then unfurling it after passing under the back stay, but, I never tried it. You can see the main sail pushing against the rear halyard line (back stay) in the video I posted in one of my previous posts above.

I just looked at my video again and noticed that I threaded my sail wrong with the halyard line
It should go under the sail first. I will re-thread it today and try it again tomorrow. lol, I made so many mistakes my first time out with it.

Don't feel bad. I also made more than a couple mistakes before finally getting it right. It's easy to make a mistake even with the good video Hobie provided.

But ... your setup looks ok. Since Tandem has 3 holes in the sail I'm not positive. Consider your video shows your spinnaker on the port side of the boat and the line is on the inside before threading through the first hole. When you shift and the sail moves to the starboard side, wouldn't the line then be on the outside? So you may be overthinking this or maybe I'm underthinking

Thanks ! yes, but, I am thinking two additional points. I was having sail stuffing problems... Since the bag is on the starboard, it would seem easier to stuff it, if the halyard line was on top of the sail on the starboard side. Also, on a run, it seemed like I ran out of halyard line on the port side because the line had to go around the big fat part of the sail instead of going inside of it. I think with the correct sail threading, the generated extra length halyard line will let me sheet out farther on a run with the spinnaker on the port side. I guess...

I don't believe the sequence of threadingh through the grommets will make an significant difference.

However, if I understand you correctly,you are sailing with the backstay caught on the top sail batten. This is a no-no... It looks like you probable need a combination of two changes (first one is the most effective)

1. Instead of sailing with the backstay caught, it should only take a moment to partially furl the sail until the backstay is cleared.
2. Shortening the top batten might help the backstay to slide over the sail.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Thanks ! I went out again on Sunday... Wind was below 10 mph with gusts just over 10 mph at times. Both sails is a lot of sail for the TI. When using the Spinnaker I ended up keeping the main slightly furled, so, it was easy to tack and pass through the backstay... Still plenty of sail and plenty of speed.

Well to no surprise to people who know me, I pulled the trigger on a spin kit for my TI today!

I only have one question, probably aimed at Matt, but all are cordially invited to respond....

A little voice inside my head is suggesting tying a stopper knot in the halyard a few inches ahead of the mast topper. This knot would allow the skipper to induce backward bend in the mast to depower the mainsail (all things in moderation however).

Did Hobie experiment with this idea, and/or is it something the beach cat brigade do? (I am guessing that such a knot is not used, to avoid gorilla arms over-tightening the luff of the spinnaker and bending up the bow into a banana)

Quite happy to be shot down in flames, no harm no foul.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker