Matching the boat to the sailor

Having taken a 15 year hiatus from racing and cruising large monohulls in the Great Lakes and the SF Bay Area, I find myself at age 75 living in the Black Hills of South Dakota in reasonable proximity to several navigable lakes/reservoirs. So, without much research, planning, or forethought, I went ahead and purchased a 1986 Hobie 16 and am in the process of restoring the boat (mainly all new standing rigging). Now the more I read - and the more videos I watch - I’m beginning to wonder whether a Wave might have been a more suitable choice, given my age muscles bones and ligaments. That said, I guess I’m just not ready to pack in the possibility of enjoying some of the thrills that the H16 has to offer once I get accustomed to the boat.

So, my question: can the 16 be used effectively as a learning platform with JUST a mainsail (perhaps even reefed) and without a jib? Or does stripping it down to such an extent make the boat worthless? Incidentally, I have a buddy with zero sailing experience who would accompany me from time to time. The two of us together weigh in at about 400 pounds. He’s six foot two and I’m just under six feet. I do, however, plan on single handing the boat as I did my Pearson 303 in and outside SF Bay in the good old days. I’d sure appreciate your thoughts on this…

While your sailing resume is impressive and respected.....you are also correct that a Wave is likely a better option, especially given your age.
At a few years older than you, I have been blessed with good health, although I know my 'active' sailing days are a gift, and may end when my knee finally gives out.
Then I will sell my H16 and buy a Wave.

While the H16 is fun, it has it's quirks, such as you may not be able to tack without a jib.
It performs 'best' with a crew weight between 285 lbs and 325 lbs.
Anything more, and it starts to 'plow'. It can sail with up to 500 or 600 lbs, but will sail like a hippo.

Like most sport catamarans, the boat is very sensitive to 'trim', and if you and your buddy are doing yoga every day,
and can move about quickly on the trampoline, you should be fine.
If not, either change boats, or get used to swimming.

Joyrider TV on YouTube is your friend....Joe knows his stuff.

Have fun, sail safe.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Thanks for your thoughtful response, John, I take it seriously.

Meanwhile, I paid $1400 for the boat, $350 for all new wire, $130 for a Poli Glow fiberglass repair kit, and I don’t own a trailer yet, sooooo… with Lake Pactola water temperature at 73 degrees today and maybe 4-5 days of restoration work left, I don’t think I’ll chicken out now. I figure I’ll put my (heavier, less agile) pal at the back of the tramp on the tiller and don’t think he’ll be doing any hiking on a trap. And I’ll “work the foredeck” as I did in my youth on a McGregor 65, a C&C 63, and a Frers 50. Hopefully, that’ll keep the bows out of the lake. Google Pactola Lake and you’ll see why I’m eager…

Taking the easy issue first, sailing without the jib will cause you a lot of problems tacking. It's doable, but I found I resorted to a lot of language when my jib halyard failed as I sailed back to my starting point. I have tried reefing and didn't notice a lot of difference.

Now moving on to age and sailing, let me preface this with the fact that I'm 70 and wondering how much longer I'll be able to handle a 16.

Let's start with a simple question. Can you raise the mast by yourself? Not secure it single handed, but get that stick pointing up into the air? If you can't do that, do you think you'll have the strength to right the boat after a capsize?

Now for some in the water practice. Take the boat out into water deep enough so you can't touch bottom, with no wind, without the sail being up. Tip the boat over. Now get it upright. Can you climb out of the water and onto the hull to pull it up? Can you pull it up with the righting line? Do you need a righting bag to help you? Now that you've got it upright, can you get on the boat? Front of the tramp or back of the tramp? (By the way, with any decent wind, you'll get some help from the wind in righting the boat.)

You'll now have some idea of how badly things are going to go wrong if you have a problem. Remember that your strength and endurance are less then what they used to be. So what are your plans when the crap starts going through the fan? The older you get, the more you have to plan around this.

As far as your friend goes, I'm going to guess he weights a bit more than you and has no clue what to do. If this is correct, don't put him in the stern of the boat. The 16 is most buoyant at the shrouds and significantly less so the further back towards the rudder you go. You want him in the least weight sensitive part of the boat. Not that the 16 is stable if the weights in the wrong place. I nearly capsized when a 100 pound teenager was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had to climb the tramp like crazy to keep from going over.

This summer I sailed with a gentleman who was probably around 60. I can't say I'm in great shape, but I'm in better shape than this gentleman. Going back and watching my video of the sail, watching him struggle to move on the boat was an interesting experience. He wants to sail by himself and that makes me nervous. Going back to a previous point, I'm not sure he could make it onto the tramp if he ended up in the water. If you want a copy of the video, send me a private message and we can discuss it.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Gentlemen, I think I may have let on in my last two posts to my tendency to enjoy jury-rigging. So I’m curious, Jim, about your dissatisfaction with reefing. Any boat needs power to drive its bow through the wind when tacking. The low mass, lightweight, widely spaced bows of a catamaran make the maneuver even more difficult. In irons, the relatively large sail area of a H16 seems often more than enough to overcome the rapidly waning momentum of the hull. I’ve watched Joe’s (joyrider.com) video on tackling and like his three rules (snug main sheet on centered traveler, ease off as you come through, and stay hard a-lee with the rudders). And he adds coming way up to a close haul in a breeze if the windward hull starts to fly.

My thing is this: if my age is making me too feeble to right a capsized catamaran, the hopefully my age is making me smart enough to avoid capsizing in the first place. But the issue here isn’t turning the boat over but rather turning it around. So I’m wondering, if I shorten sail with custom made reef points in the main, and with a cringle installed on the luff of the jib maybe a foot or so above the tack for a downhaul, can I maintain sufficient drive to weather to get through the wind while at the same time eliminating some of the obstacle the sails present in doing so.

Could you let me know, Jim, how you went about your experiment with reefing and why it didn’t work out?

Thanks!
MH

ps. thinking about applying a yellow and black POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS graphic along both hulls under the gunnels where the racing stripes usually go and naming my boat “CRIME SCENE”. Whatcha think?

I didn't really experiment with reefing. As I own an older boat, it has a reef point built into the sail and halyard. One day it seemed a little too strong so I decided to try reefing the main and seeing what I got. Pure and simple, it didn't seem to change the equation too much. The boat was still over-powered and I had much more results between the traveler adjustment and sheeting. It may well have been a day when what I should have done is two reef points, but my sail doesn't have that option.

In a small lake, you're going to have two problems that Joe Bennett doesn't have. One is wind shifts. As you get nearer to the shore, the wind gets shifty from the trees and buildings along the shore line. Too often you'll find your tacks going through what seems like a 180 degrees as the wind shifts during your tack. The second problem is gusts and lulls. Again, the shore line will effect the wind out on the lake.

And the smaller the lake, the closer to shore you'll be tacking as you try to get the most out of each tack.

The jib on a 16 has a lot of power on its own. So reefing it should produce some results. But how much is new territory as I don't think anyone has done much work on this. What would produce the right balance for a 16 is an interesting question. Starting point is that the 16 is a very over powered boat.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Thanks again for your thoughts, Jim. Adding two rows of reef points at the second and third battens, and another tack at the first batten of the jib shouldn’t do any real permanent damage to the sails and will give me the opportunity to test these theories. Here are today’s conditions at Pactola Lake:

“Today's weather at Pactola Lake features partly cloudy skies with temperatures ranging from 54°F to 78°F. Wind conditions will average 5 mph with gusts reaching up to 14 mph, creating excellent fishing conditions with calm waters. The UV index will reach 5 (Moderate), and there's a 0% chance of precipitation.“

Time to buy a wet suit…

We have a group of 6 guys, 66 to 72 y.o., with 5 - H16s and a Getaway. We solo them all the time, but will double up when the wind gets consistently over 20. Reefing is great, it actually lets you sail faster in high winds because you can utilize the power of the wind instead of just spilling it all. I showed our guys how to reef their 16s, and we use it a lot. I had reef points put in my Getaway.
Most of us carry righting bags, but one of the bigger guys can right his 16 without one.
Age doesn't really matter, but a certain amount of agility helps.

_________________
Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Icebirds" - 1974 Skeeter iceboat
Too many canoes and kayaks