Oil canning with Hobie Cradles

I thought I read on here that the trailer cradles did not cause oil canning. I have a recently purchased a two year old AI that has been well cared for, sailed infrequently and stored in a garage since new. It is definitely oil canned at the location of the front cradle and the back cradle. The front cradle sits such that the back of the cradle sits just under the front of the peddle trunk, so it is oil canned between the mast support and the peddle trunk. Where it sits in the back there is no support - it is also oil canned but not as severe. The cradles are on a Trailex Hobie AI trailer, so I assume that they are spaced properly.

For now I have the amas off and have tipped the boat up on its sides, resting on the center cradles with support to keep it from toppling over.

Anybody else have these issues? Any ideas about the reason this has occurred or suggestions for remedies?

Thanks,

Suggestion...switch to PVC bunks. You'll much happier and so will your boat.

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

It occurs to me that this problem may have arisen from a combination of two factors - one: the previous owner was using ratcheting straps, two: the location of the front cradle was at an unsupported area between mast base and the drive case. I have moved the boat forward so that the front cradle sits under the drive case (trunk) and slid the back cradle 6" forward. The back cradle remains at the nearly the same location on the boat, but the oil canning was less pronounced there. This has the side benefit of increasing the tongue weight, which was too light.

Tongue weight has seen some discussion on the board, boat with the boat and trailer weighing under 300 lbs, it didn't seem to destabilize the rig. It road well on the highway after purchase, and, on a subsequent road test, I could not induce sway by jerking the steering wheel around a bit. Not recommending under weighting the tongue - just a
one trial observation.

I suspect I am having them.

Only "Suspect" because, foolishly, I failed to put a straightedge on the hull when new.

But after a season correctly located on the Hobie cradles there is definitely some oil canning there - not a lot, and I cannot say for sure it was not there out of the factory.... but now I have some measurements and we will know for sure by the end of this season.

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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]