First sail tomorrow!

I am taking my new hobie out for the first time tommorow after work, is there anything an experienced monohull dinghy sailor should know about sailing a cat? My mast step doesn't have the little plastic disk thing, I have them in the mail but don't have one yet, is it ok to take the boat out without it?

Thanks

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

Hi - quite a few things What kind of Hobie, assuming 16 or 14? Without the mast bearing (disc) the mast will struggle to turn in the step which will be a real pain since it will radicall affect sail shape and performance. Second if you have never sailed a cat before do a search on tacking since it is really different from a monohull (I grew up on 5o5's and have just got used to how slow and cumbersome it is to tack a 16). Basically, you drive the boat through the tack like a truck with big wheels, keep the jib cleated so it backwinds and pushes the the bows through the remainder of the turn (rudders will be dead at this point but keep em pointed into the tack) and then when you are fully through you power up with the job on the new tack and then sheet your main. Takes a long time compared to a monohull. If the winds are light, chances are good the jib battens will hangup on the mast/halyards so go ahead and pop it manually. Lastly, find some shallow ish water and hang on to the leeward trap to capsize in controlled water and practice righting, again very different to a monohul without a dagger board to stand on.
This forum is a wealth of knowledge with really helpful cat sailors so keep trolling for gems.

Most importantly, have fun - personally I will never go back to a monohull

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1985 Prindle 16

Thanks a lot! I do have a 16. I would never have thought tacking would suck so bad. Is gybing in heavy air cumbersome? I am guessing that the risk of a dump are high on windy gybes. How do you rig up the righting line/how do you right one of these boats? We were planning on taking a test run tomorrow and get all these hickups out of the way and then take the wives out for a ride to Big Sandy Bay on Wolfe island and run her up on the beach.

Thanks

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

These boats are way more stable than Monohulls - Gybing in heavy air can be challenging - Righting line config depends on type of line purchased. Basically though the line runs from the rudder pintels (Or from a small hole drilled in the lip towards the stern) inside the shrouds (some say outside), past dolphin stryker and end on opposite hull.

When boat goes over, release all sheets, stand towards the bow of hull in the water to let the wind blow the boat to the wind, when bow in the wind step back to midships, grab the line and lean back as hard as you can. As she comes up, call out which way you are going ie in (between the hulls) or out to the clear water so you and crew are on the same page. The boat will come over pretty slowly so you have time. when she is back upright, grab the striker so it doesn't escape without you, climb on, sheet in and get ready to do it again LOL.

These cats are a blast

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1985 Prindle 16

Temporary solutions recommended by various folks: plastic bottle cap or (my favorite) a quarter.

Tacking will be the most challenging in comparison to monohull sailing. Pretty much everything that drummer said but ALSO: remember to sheet out the main as you've begun crossing head to wind. Otherwise the mainsail will windvane you into irons.

Does the righting line just hang below the tramp? how tight should I make it just to start out with? Once I have it crudely setup and dump/right her a few times I can figure it out. Does it loop through the dolphin striker and back to the other transom?

BTW thanks all, I am so excited! The fastest I have ever gone sofar was on a reach with my fireball in 25 knots with most of the centreboard pulled up, this is going to be fun!

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

A good place to learn the 'hows' to sail a cat is from HobieU. Down load the PDF (rather large 4.5 mb, but covers much of what you need to know) http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/HobieU.pdf
Also, it is important to learn how to tack in heavy wind by reversing rudders while in Irons. This is especially important if you have the jib furled or sailing uni-rig. Good luck and happy sailing.

Fireballs are a blast - but still have taken you in the 5o5 LOL

Again on the righting line it depends on the type but I have the universal system with the bungee and ended up making it pretty tight after much trial and error. It runs through a ring attched to the stryker The nice thing with this system is that it retracts and does not hang down when not in use. It is also a great "Chicken line" in the event of a pitch pole and may well stop your crew swinging around the forestay

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1985 Prindle 16

cut a disc out of tupperware or a old plastic bucket it will get you by till parts arrive

True, but fireballs can plane in 8 knots, and I honestly think on a reach it would take a 505 due to the hard chines...


I did keep my chute from the fireball, I have a sneaky feeling it will make a debut on the H16 sometime before winter

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

the trick with downwind sailing and gybing is to keep your weight back. On a broad reach the H16 has very little bouyancy in the bows, one strong wind puff will drive the bows underwater and presto! a pitch pole, which in case you're not familiar... is a head over heels capsize when the boat stops instantly. if you're quick you can release sheets and pressure and save the capsize. but if you're screaming along and bury, it's a quick dunk for you. oh, and if you and your crew are on the wire, you'll both land in the same spot!

with gybing in high winds, take care not to get weight caught on the new leeward side as the gybing force can also send you over.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

Never will I agree on the fireball faster than 5o5 discussion on any point of sail LOL

Love to see a pic of the fb chute on the Hobie. Good luck with your first sail and enjoy the hell out of the boat

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1985 Prindle 16

Ten Four, thanks for all the help, this should make tomorrow much easier.

Once I get a new trap harness and get an eye popped onto the mast and get some guy cleats mounted I will post some pics of the chute flying. BTW on the boats that have a spinnaker, do they have a backstay or are the shrouds good enough on their own?

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

Ditto on the quarter. I used a quarter when I used to sail a 16. Works just as well as the teflon chip.

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ADDICTION
1989 HOBIE 18 SE/sx wings
HOBIE ALTER SIGNATURE MODEL

SO, I had my first sail on saturday, not friday like I originally thought and it was an adventure! The weatherman said it was going to be a nice day with 30% chance of rain...he lied! We did the quater trick and it sure enough worked great, set the boat up and took off for a sail over to Big Sandy Bay on Wolfe island for our maiden voyage (so we could pull her up on the beach ) We discovered early on that the cables on the bow that go from the bottom of the forestay to the hulls were imporperly replaced by the PO and our mast rake was essentially zero, so the mast was staight up, and we noticed that our jib fairlead situation is not optimal, so we have some things to work on. Heading out to the bay was slow going because this boat points horrendously. I mentioned our jib failead situation was off, so I was block to block the whole time, and we had to pinch the whole way just to keep reasonable upwind course. Would the mast not being raked enough have something to do with the poor pointing? Or is this just the nature of the beast? Anyways, it was fairly uneventful getting there, but then the wind decided to die completely and mother nature got mad at us! After an hour of flopping sails and frustration the wind spun around 180* and started howling...thunder and lightning everywhere and a torrential downpour. The sky had that ominous blue/black/grey hurricane look...it was kind of scary out there. The wind was maybe 30 knots and as shifty as my ex, and oh yeah we had to beat all the way back again All I can say is that we are glad we had wetsuits on and that we are used to good strong wind, the trap got a good workout and we saw what the boat could do upwind...sortof. 3/4 of the way through or marathon 9 hours of sailing, the last few of which were under storm conditions we noticed that the port hull was getting lower and lower in the water...we decided to pull into Portsmouth Olympic Harbour about 3 miles short of where we set sail from because by that time it was almost completely dark and both hulls were sinking, the port one was actually completely submerged save the tip of the bow...we nearly pitchpoled 5 or 6 times while close hauled...it was a hairy ride! We ended pulling her up at the gas dock next to a bunch of 49ers and their respective (pompous) owners who didn't offer to help us out. Both hulls were full of water, but we were safe and sound. I have to say the boat is super stable, lots of fun, and fast...but I thought she would be faster....BUT I say that assuming she will go much faster when the leeward hull is not constantly underwater...

Questions? Will adjusting the rake help pointing? Do you guys have boom vangs? we have the tang on the boom for one, but there isn't a vang tang on the mast...we used the traveller to de-power during the storm and it worked ok, but a vang might be useful for racing. while beating or reaching and you have all your weight aft, how much of the leeward hull should be underwater? Should the gunnels be getting wet, or is that just a sign of a heavy wet boat?

THe final word:

I like this boat a lot, so does my skip, but this was a shakedown run and we now have some more work to do before she is right where we want her to be.

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher