Tacking Trouble

You can read all the books, watch all the videos but time on the water is the best solution to this problem. When you play back that video in your head of your last sail, you'll remember something that you fogot to do each time you missed a tack. Get use to your boat; learn to see all of your information simultaneously (i.e. weather vane, rudder angle, bow movement). It took me an entire year before I could tack at will. Oh, and something else that I don't think has been mentioned. Depending on the weight of you and you crew, moving aft through the tack will help bring your leeward bow up just a little, making it easier for the windward bow to turn through the water. Are you having to tack through waves ? If so, you'll have to learn to anticipate and begin your tack as your boat is coming to the top of them. It's all about timing. You'll figure it out. It's just gonna take time.

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Happy Sailing,

David

JIBE: how to...

It's like the last post said - reading it really isn't going to do much - you need to go out and do it. Sorry to hear about the wife and kiddies, but if you are asking how to tack and jibe - I would say it's best not to have the wife and kiddies onboard until you can do those things.

More people on board... especially wife (clueless also?) and kids... Along for the ride and likely don't know they have to scramble from time to time... isn't going to make things easy. One of them maybe okay, but wife+kiddies sounds like trouble unless it's very light breeze. I'd recommend you go out by yourself so you don't have the added stress of commanding unsuspecting riders and in the quite, you'll gain the experience you need.

Someone said all summer to tack? That seems excessive, I was tacking and jibeing my first time out. (albeit - many tacks unsuccessful that then resulted in emergency jibes so as not to hit something. In stonger winds - both are harder to perform. Go out by yourself (if you don't have an experienced friend to bring) during decent winds. (10-15) and get the feel. Think about where the wind is coming from (most always) and what it's doing to you with respect to your sail angles and shapes.

You'll learn from experience... like I learned when I jibe, I want to keep my main sail traveler locked down pretty snug and near center... maybe no more than 20" either way of center. Especially in stronger winds, because I don't want the dangerous boom snap taking place. If I must- then I put my hand on the boom and help it change sides. I really don't like it when it has to go from one end of the traveler track to the other in big winds with a BANG - (I also fear a shroud or something else could break.) I jibe very little, especially in mid to higih winds. Tacking is easier (For me) maybe because I do it far more... Less stressful and less dangerous. There isn't anything better than actual experience. You can ask for tips/tricks after you've got the hang of it, but just reading text - isn't going to really be of much help until you start to do it.

LOCK the jib - use it to push your bow around in the turn, KEEP YOUR HAND on the tiller so as not to allow it to come out of the turn prematurely. As I mentioned before - if practicing. It would be best to move your jib traveler cars out to the far sides (ends of the forward rail) This will give you maximum angle on the jib to the wind which will help rotate the bow through the turn.
Releasing the jib tension before you're through the turn will most always result in a failed tack. In big wind, we once tried sailing with no jib. Thinking - less sail - less dangerous while we were learning. I quickly found that I couldn't tack at all without a jib. At least not at those early stages of learning my 16. (2 years ago) I now have THREE 16's!

Myself - (I'm sure it can be done) but I don't feel that a 16 is a wife and kiddies kind of boat. I don't even dare bring my dog. (well I did once). A wife, or a kid - is fine, but the family? Not in the winds I like to sail in.

re: "The other is that, while bring the tiller around the block they tend to let go allowing the rudders to straighten out. Hold the crossbar while moving the tiller and changing sides to keep the boat from stalling."

A very common problem with beginners. I would just throw the tiller overboard and forget about it till the tacking or jibing is all over before retrieving it. This way you won't be distracted, stall or lose your orientation during the turn. One thing less to worry about as you can steer very well just with the crossbar.

In Cuba, they simply removed all the tiller sticks on the Hobie-15s in all the hotels.

Worth a try.

Friend of mine went to Jamaica. The dude from the hotel that gave him a crash course was steering with his feet, crossbar between his toes.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

I took the tiller off my boat. My son in law lets his drag behind the boat. (his doesn't come off easily). We just don't use them they do get in the way and just add another element to mess with.

I rented a Getaway in DE this summer and they had taken the tiller off their boat. It was very easy to handle.

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Washington, DC/Port Tobacco, MD
1981 Hobie 16

I use mine ~75% of time, when I'm forward for weight distribution and hiking out. Otherwise I throw it overboard when I'm maneuvering and scrambling.

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

Same here, especially useful when single handing.

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1990 "Formula 1" H16 (# 009)

Huh? What am I missing here? Picturing you steering the boat with your pinkey toe, somehow does not seem easier to me!

Talking about using the hot stick most of the time other than when holding the cross bar while scrambling or otherwise at the back of the boat.

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

I'm new to a 16 after coming back to sailing after a few decades, and have been caught in irons for about 30% of my tacks. This has made my racing in a mixed fleet embarrasing and my resultant language has been shameful.

Have just read this thread and wanted to post my appreciation to all that have responded with their tips.

Am now looking forward to practicing what you all have preached.

Good forum, this.

Regards & thanks Geoff

the best advice i have learned is to keep the main tight and centered (not traveled out) and not to turn too quickly... Carve the turn.....
perhaps this video may help a bit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMka3IeyNQo

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•Present boat -1998 Hobie 16 Solana Sails furling jib[/size]

This is bad advice. Leaving the main centered and sheeted in will "weathervane" the boat. The hulls will turn into the wind but a tight mainsail will prevent them from turning all the way through it. More often than not the boat will stall.

I imagine what waldorf is refering to is trying to tack from a traveled out (close reach, broad reach) point of sail is more difficult. "Coming up" to a close hauled (traveller centered) point of sail and maintaining prior to the tack is much more successful.

You're right sunvista, leaving the main cleated during the tack doesn't work, I wait until we're almost head to wind, then break the main sheet, and cross to the other side of the boat.

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

Tacking Hobie 16, - Boat Handling Tips -

by steve Jung . ..Return to DSC hobie LIBRARY Page

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Sailing a dinghy well means smart tactics, good sail trim, and good boat handling. Sailing a Hobie 16 requires the same techniques but there seems to be one main difference between a regular monohull dinghy and a Hobie 16 and that is the boat handling.

You see, if you have ever sailed a Hobie 16 or watched one under sail, you'll have noticed that it seems to take forever for a Hobie 16 to complete tack. Simple maneuver it seems. But the fact is that a Hobie is very difficult to tack - unless properly executed. When proceeding with a tack, both hulls of the Hobie 16 must change directions simultaneously. But the hulls are fixed to each other so when they change directions, they work against each other by disrupting the water flow. This results in lost boat speed and lost distance on the race course (as much as 8 boat lengths for each tack).

There is no real simple solution to this problem. The key to tacking a Hobie 16 well is to tack as smoothly as possible.

* First, make sure that you are sailing as fast as possible on a close hauled course.

* Next, begin your turn by pushing your tiller until it has rotated about 45 degrees. The turn should be slow, smooth and steady - otherwise you'll stop the boat. If you have not already done so, both crew and skipper should jump from the trapeze wire back onto the trampoline ready to move your weight to the opposite side. Wait.... It will take some time for the boat to actually go through the turn from one tack to the other. Hold the tiller perfectly still while going through the turn.

DON'T RELEASE THE MAINSHEET UNTIL YOU'VE REACHED HEAD TO WIND[/b][/b][/b]. As the boat goes through head to wind, release the main sheet and let the wind push the mainsheet out about 1 foot. In some conditions, the mainsheet may not go through the blocks very well. To improve this, you can help by either giving the mainsheet a slight push or, if in light winds, simply turning the rachet off. Keep the tiller perfectly still (in a continuous arc). Move your crew and skipper weight to the new windward side of the boat.

* Keep the jib cleated. Do not release the jib sheet. Allow the jib to backwind until the boat has reached its proper course on the new tack. Then, quickly release the cleated (old) jib sheet and sheet in the opposite (new) jib sheet. Here's a helpful tip. Before the crew has released the cleated (old) jibsheet, the crew could position themselves just behind the mast facing forward and hold the port jibsheet in their left hand and starboard jibsheet in their right hand. The crew will then be in a "ready" position to release the cleated (old) jib sheet and quickly sheet in the opposite (new) jibsheet.

* When the boat has reached the proper course on the new tack, straighten the tiller.

* The battens on the main sail will flop over and the boat should start to get under way. Only then do you pull the main sheet in slowly. If the boat starts to stall (the boat wants to head up and slows down), you are sheeting in to quickly and you should ease the main sheet and bear away (a nautical term for steering away from the direction of the wind) until the boat starts to accelerate again. Make sure that the boat continues to accelerate to full speed before you completely sheet in your main sheet. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR TACK....don't sheet your main in too quickly!



Practice, practice practice!!! And soon you'll be tacking your boat like the A Fleeters and be beating them.

by Steven Jung

..Return to DSC hobie LIBRARY Page

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•Present boat -1998 Hobie 16 Solana Sails furling jib[/size]