Help with first Hobie Cat purchase

Over the past few days, I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the hcat16 as much as I can, but I am finding myself struggling with putting the right part with the right name prior to my purchase. Keep in mind that I know nothing of sailing, but it has now become my dream to learn how to sail a hcat. See, while the seller of the ’81 hcat that I am getting ready to buy says that the cat is ready to sail, I want to be ready to point out anything that might be missing (getting the part later from the seller will not be an option). Beyond knowing what a mast, rudder, sail, jib, boom, and hull is, I do not know the specific names of the rigging that will be needed in order to sail. For example, if I see that a particular piece of rigging is missing, I want to be able to point this out to the seller since it may just have fallen off while it was stored in his garage or something. But I am struggling with finding some diagram, or even a collection of pictures that identifies each part (mostly rigging) with the name. If I can memorize all the parts, what they look like, and where they are on the hcat, I will feel more comfortable about asking where a missing piece is. I’ve tried Googling images of the individual rigging based off the reading I have been doing, but the images often do not show the same kind of rigging on an hcat, which will make it hard for me to know where to find it on an hcat. There are picture in the hcat manual, but they do not pair them with the name nor where on the hcat they should be. Does anyone know where I might find a diagram that identifies each piece of rigging on an ’81 hcat by name paired with a picture?

Also, does anyone have a “list” or suggestions as to what I should inspect at the time of purchase? I have read about “soft-spots” as well as identifying cracks and holes in the hulls . That will be easy for me as I know the functionality of the hull. I know that the mast should be inspected so that it is in fact straight, but what its ability to raise/lower the main sail - how do I look for this functionality. These things seem pretty straight forward; however, what about the rigging? Should I inspect every “pulley” to see that the wheels inside move smoothly? I know the ropes will be worn and the trampoline will have its worn spots too, but I’m mostly concerned about the functionality of the rigging, as I don’t know what each piece does and therefore don’t know what to look for in terms of a faulty (or going to fail) piece of rigging. I am already convinced there will be pieces of rigging that will be questionable, and if I am going to negotiate a fair price, I will need to be familiar with each piece and how it helps the hcat "sail".

Any help would very much be appreciated, as I’m very anxious (and excited) about the purchase.

Rig the boat on the trailer...That's the best way to make sure all is there. Plan on replacing standing rigging and lines at the minimum. Sails, hulls, mast, and tramp are the biggies...everything else is pretty inexpensive to sort out

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

_________________
1980 H16

The parts manual is your best bet, and then rigging.

Also, racing in regattas or other events. You can see how others rig thier boats.


Regards,
Ted

Thanks for the feedback. I like the idea of rigging the boat on the trailer, though my understanding of what goes where is not very good. I'm sure the owner will be able to assist me.

honiesrock - when you mentioned replacing the "standing rigging and lines" does "lines" refer to the shrouds and forestay? I was thinking about this simply based on the amount of stress both of these lines endure and the fact that if one of the shrouds breaks, I could lose the whole mast.

If you don't know much about sailing. I'd join a local sailing club first and learn a little bit. You'll find that all boats largely look and function the same. The probability of running into an old guy who used to sail hobie 16s is high. That person can check the boat out with you. Alternatively, you can probably just give us what state you live in (assuming you're in the US) and someone on here will be nice enough to check out a boat with you to make sure you don't purchase a pile of junk. I know a guy with 5 hobie 16s sitting in his backyard.

If you're in Texas, I'd be happy to help out. I know of 2 beautiful boats down here that are really good deals, and our local hobie dealer is trying to sell a new hobie 16.

-Evan

standing rigging=the cables that hold the mast up
lines=the "ropes" you pull to control sails.

_________________
1980 H16

I thought sheets control the sails.
don't forget about the rope halyards which raise the sails

_________________
JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

"Line" is a general term for all the synthetic ropes on the boat.

"Standing Rigging" is a general term for the stainless steel wires that support the mast. It's generally not adjusted once you are sailing.

"Running Rigging" is a general term for lines (and sometimes wires) that control the sail angle, shape and used for hoisting/lowering sails.

In general, a sail will have 5 control lines:
- a halyard for hoisting/lowering - these are a combination of line and wire on a Hobie 16.
- a downhaul (sometimes also called a "cunningham") to control shape (tension on the sail luff)
- an outhaul to control shape (tension on the sail foot)
- a sheet to control sail angle and twist
- a traveler to control sail angle

Not all sails have all 5 lines - for example, the jib does not have an outhaul and the halyard performs the function of the downhaul on older sails (newer sails have adjustable luff tension separate from the halyard).

There are other lines on the boat as well - batten ties, a righting line, trapeze extensions, etc. The trapezes are considered running rigging, even though they are wire and don't control sails.

Thoroughly confused?

[quote="BboySlug"]If you don't know much about sailing. I'd join a local sailing club first and learn a little bit.


I gotta disagree. Nothing is better than sailing. You can learn a bunch here, but nothing beats getting on the water. I live in central PA, and I have only ever seen one H16 other than mine, and that was on Seneca Lake, NY. He'd been sailing for years and after listening to him, I'm glad I learned the hard way. I've never seen such poor care taken of sails and rigging (not that I'm an expert). With nearly dragging his mast down the road, I'd say he did nothing correctly (gosh, he bunched up both sails around his mast and lashed them fast with his main sheet - said it let him set up in twenty minutes - wow ten minutes more and I have nice sails and lines). I'd sure love to sail with guys like Matt Bounds, the guy should be working for Hobie. I learned not to sail in 30 knot winds (first time out) I also learned how to right a boat (that same day of course). I also learned you cannot sail with just the jib (well, actually you can, but it's really challenging. That's what you do in 30 knots when you are dying to sail and cannot reef your sails) I learned how not to sail onto a dock (literally) and I learned how to replace a tramp. I successfully navigated my cat down a river full of moored yachts. (Dang, I still shake thinking of that day) I also learned that attempting to sail 16 miles in four hours (never even got close ) in swirling winds will discourage a wife, but lets you meet new friends who let you park your boat for the night in front of their home. I learned how to fix an older boat and sail an H14... all by reading this blog, but nothing beats just going out and sailing. These boats are addicting. I used to HATE the wind when I was a power boater. Now I watch the wind from my office and wish I could be sailing. I've also eschewed a tow when the wind stops because it'll eventually start blowing again at sundown (at least most of the time) The sailors on this blog are the best, though not the brightest (as you might have read some of my notes from last year), but everyone helps in some way to get you started. Next year I'm moving to either Hilton Head or Charleston where there are more sailors and more wind and I'm semi-retired when I won't be watching the wind from my office window. Thanks to all of you for making this sport exciting and addicting. (Glad my wife doesn't read this blog. She's already asking why I get so many deliveries from Mariner Sails). So all this to say, put the darn thing in the water and fly a hull. No power boating can even begin to compare.