Hitches

I was looking at a hitch for my wife's Civic. It says it'll handle 200lbs for tongue weight will the H16 + Trailer fall under that?

Also, I know the Civic isn't SUPPOSED to tow anything, BUT....has anyone on here pulled a hobie with a civic over a period of time. What was the result?

you can always adjust toungue weight by moving the boat either forward or aft on the trailer...200lbs should be fine.

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1981 Hobie 16
1982 Hobie 14 turbo (sold)
1996 SeaDoo GTI
1999 Hunter 340

The civic will be fine, after all...it's a Honda. It will be funny though to see the hulls sticking out twice as far as the car going down the road.

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1990 "Formula 1" H16 (# 009)

On a properly loaded trailer, the tongue weight is about 10 to 15% of the total load. BTW, that's the hitch that can handle a tongue weight of 200lbs, the Civic will vary depending on the year. My 97 Civic was not rated for towing, in other words 0 lbs. But I have towed close to 1000 lbs with it.

I would not be too worried about it with a cat on a trailer, you should still be able to lift the tongue even if it's too much forward. If you can lift it, the Civic can handle it.

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

I pulled my first 16 with a '82 VW Rabbit for two years without any problems and the trailer was heavy with a large gear box,sailtube,cooler and covered with varnished redwood.A little over kill...you think?The hills that little Rabbit climber between the lake and my house are pretty steep.Sometimes,I would drive down to my buddy's Dave house by the lake (in almost a ravine) and have to tie several larger pieces of unsplit firewood to the top of my front bumper of that Rabbit just to drive it up his steep gravel driveway.I needed the weight on the front wheel drive Rabbit to get traction...
Those were the days....Bill 404 21SE

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Bill 404 21SE

I saw a guy in town pull his H 14 with a honda 750 motorcycle back in the late 70's, he would head up the Hy at 55 MPH Seems a honda car would do it also.....Jay

Now that I would like to have a picture of, that would be crazy!!

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

The boat and trailer weigh in around 600lbs. Even an automatic can handle this easily. The tongue weight of 200lbs is the rated limit of most front wheel drive small cars. Make sure you don't tow more than about 1000lbs with an automatic (torque converter can burn up). With a manual your car should be able to handle about 2000lbs.

I tow my SJ 21 and hobie 16 with a vw rabbit. The car weighs less than 3,000lbs so it is a bit sketch towing 2,000lbs behind it but works great. Most vehicles, including your civic, are under rated in the US by DOT. My VW rabbit is actually rated to tow about as much as the car weighs in Europe. Granted VW uses over sized brakes and bulkier suspension/more cylinders but I would still feel comfortable towing any amount DOT stated a vehicle can tow.

FYI, I upgraded my brake pads because the stock ones were NOT up to the task. All is better now. You should be fine towing a hobie 16, motorcycle, or couple jet skies. Get out there and have some fun on the water man!

I tow my '76 Hobie 16 with the same class hitch, I believe it is class 1 that is only rated to 200 lb's of tongue weight. I use a '97 BMW 528i, I always laugh when I pass someone on the highway, not many people but just 1 or 2 a trip makes me chuckle. I will try to find a pic and post it later, looks pretty funny at first.

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War Damn Eagle
Branson

my class II is rated to 200lb tongue weight/2000lb tow weight (1,000 for automatic). no idea what class 1 is... for bike racks and stuff?

Oh I upgraded my trailer from a 1 7/8" to 2" too fyi. No idea if this is safer but the 2" was rated for 200lb/2000lb so it matched well. I don't know how much you know about trailering but be careful. My friend's aunt killed a guy with a trailer that wasn't properly connected to her truck one time. Make sure you get the right ball size and understand how to run safety chains properly. Also make sure you buy a little $3 safety pin so the hitch can't unlatch from the ball due to big bumps or a car wreck.

1972 Ford Pinto 2000 CC engine probably 80 horsepower with 250000 miles down to key west at 70 mph 1000 miles each way no problem with the HC 16 with all the goods for a week of camping

A new honda should be no problem

I am a very experienced trailer sailor and 200 lbs of tongue weight for a hobie is way too much. I have a aluminum trailer with a tongue weight of maybe 50 lbs. That's not quite the 10% recommended (boat=320+ trailer=200 = 520, 10%=52) but is rock solid on the highway at 80mph. But even with a steel trailer at maybe 400 lbs that is still only 72 lbs of tongue weight. I would look at how far forward the boat is on the trailer. Plus how do you move the boat around at your house? I just pick up the tongue and push it around. I'd hate to have to hook up every time I wanted to shift it around. I used to have a 5800 lb monohull parked on the RV pad and with a trailer weight of 1500 lbs and a tongue weight of 465 lbs (twin axles) it was not going anywhere without a full sized truck hooked up.

I towed my 79 in NH with a 2003 Focus Hatchback. It was no problem except that when I looked out of my sideview mirrors all I would see is the hulls. A honda can tow your 16 I am quite sure. I tow my 81' 16 with a 4 cylinder Ranger now and that works good too. I would like to have the other two cylinders though...

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Corey
82 H16 project complete

I tow mine with a '02 Honda CR-V. No prob.

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'81 H16

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

Stupid question but is a Class II hitch fine for a Hobie 16 on a galvanized Dilly trailer? I don't really haul anything other than the Hobie 16 and occasionally a canoe on top of the trampoline. I always had vehicles with with factory installed Class III's but just purchased a used Chevy Uplander without a hitch and realized I don't know anything about hitches.

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Andrew
'88 Hobie 16