new hobie cat sailor

Everything I learned about sailing I learned in kindergarten. And that was 50 years ago.
This spring I learned that a friend of my wife had a sailboat sitting in a garage since 1995! It turns out it is a 16' Hobie. I persisted and we spent July & most of August finding or buying all the parts, but we finally got it on the water.
I have to say I was sceptical and a little intimidated at first, but now I am totally hooked. I sail on a 700 acre lake in Southern New Hampshire and would love to hear from other cat sailors in the area.
I have a zillion questions and am spending a lot of time searching the forums. Thank good for the link showing a detail of the rudder components with labeling. I am still trying to figure out if I have adjustable rudders or not.
Alfred

The rudders on a hobie 16 are adjustable similar to the front wheels of your car, toe in or toe out. On H16, you want a slight toe in alignment, this can be done on the tiller crossbar, the bar that links both the rudders together. On each end of the crossbar are rudder adjusters used for alignment. Please check out the FAQ forum on this website for further info on how to align your rudders. http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=467

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hobieblast
On-The-Edge-Of-No-Control

What you have described aligns the rudders with each other, but I think what Alfred is describing is the rudder rake adjustable castings that were introduced in 1983.

The dead give-away of rake adjustable castings are the presence of a bolt head on the top of the upper rudder casting and the lack of a rivet hole on the side of the casting.

These castings allow you to easily adjust the fore and aft rake of the rudder which greatly affects the helm of the boat.

Alfred,

I was in your position about 23 years ago. I bought my Hobie 16 at when I was 51. I had sailing experience prior to that but not on catamarans. It is a great feeling to sail such a fast, responsive boat. My grandchildren love to go out with me. The rudder rake adjustment is done by turning a setscrew in the front of the gudgeon, near the bottom. The slack created at the latch by moving the bottom of the rudder forward, is taken up by the adjustment on top of the rudder arm casting. That is the bolt head someone mentioned here. As mentioned above, it was first used on the '83 model. My boat is an '85. You can check the year of manufacture by looking at the numbers hand engraved on the rear of the hulls. The first 2 numbers are the year. What year is your boat?

Howard

Howard, you are the man! You just made my year!

I am 51, now, and sometimes wonder how long I've got until my aging body won't be able to handle it anymore.

Now I've got my answer: At least 23 years!!! Yeah, baby!

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"HOBIE....
Say it LOUD and there's music playing...
Say it SOFT and it's almost like praying.....
I just sailed my WAVE out the Marina !"
West Coast Story

Yes, I turned 74 in Feb. and am still sailing not only my Hobie 16 but an 18' Cape Cod catboat. Even more interesting, 1 1/2 years ago, in March I had heart surgery- 5 bypasses. By June, just 3 months later, I was sailing the Hobie again solo, including setting it up alone. I look back and wonder how I did it. I look at 51 as being pretty young.

Howard

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Howard

Howard- Amen to what zzcorey said.
I had been wondering the same thing about how long you can do this. I am totally impressed that you do set up solo. What is your best tip for that?
Do you still trap out?
What do you do for solo righting?

The last 3 digits of my serial number are 787, so my understanding is that is a 1987 made in 1987. The owner, however, swears it is more like an 83. It does have a comp tip.
And the rudders do have a bolt head on top, so that is encouraging. Since reversing the rudders, my helm issues have vanished- I was getting major weather helm on one tack and lee helm on the other- so adjusting the rudders has become less of a worry.
Our season just ended. The last day I made friends with a Hobie Tiger couple and we had a nice sail together. They say they start up as early as May, but that is a long ways away.

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Alfred
'87 H16 Sail 89907
If you aren't sailing on the edge, you're taking up too much room.

Alfred,

The biggest problem is raising the mast. I made a tripod out of 3 lengths of aluminum (tent poles) that I set up a few feet from the boat. I set the mast on it and put in the pin. I then tie a line to the jib halyard and to the bridle. It is just to extend the length of the halyard. Then I raise the mast being careful not to let the shrouds catch on anything. With the mast raised, I lean into it, reach down and uncleat the jib halyard, tighten it and recleat it to hold the mast up. The rest is easy. By the way, I read about this method years ago in an article in the Hobie Hotline.

Yes, I do trap out. It is sometimes a more comfortable ride than being on the tramp. I haven't had to right the boat alone but one time. My son-in-law was with me on a very windy day. We were both on the wire and when we came about and got back out, he somehow got unhooked and I sailed away without him. I kept trying to come about but the wind was so strong, it finally blew me over and turtled the boat. Getting out of the turtle was easy, just put your weight near the stern of a hull and bring the bows up. to get up from there I used another trick from the Hotline. I reached down, traveled out the jib, and pulled the jib sheet tight ahead of the cam cleat. With the mast not quite facing the wind, the jib sheet traps air and gives some help righting the boat. I do carry a bucket for righting but haven't used it yet.

Howard

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Howard

Howard,
I decided to learn to trap out, because I heard it was more comfortable. I hadn't realized how much more stable the boat would be when you are trapped out. I am trapping out as much as possible for practice. It isn't all that comfortable when there isn't much wind. But I do really like it when the boat gets moving. Right now I have my trap in the middle and I am trying to figure out whether to go up or down with it next.
I plan on making a righting bag this winter for next season. Hopefully I won't need it much. I looked at the righting pole system, but it is way too expensive. I want to try and figure out an alternative way to make one.
I am still impressed that you can get the mast up yourself. You should get someone to video you and post it. Recently I added a Baby Bob and I struggled with it and had someone helping me.

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Alfred
'87 H16 Sail 89907
If you aren't sailing on the edge, you're taking up too much room.

Howard,
I just had a thought re: the shrouds. Because, I also have the problem of the shrouds getting under the corner castings, as I am sure most solo mast steppers do. how about a bungee that runs from the stern(maybe off the rudder casting somewhere) to the tramp lacings, trapping the shrouds between the hulls?

Just a thought.
Sam

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Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

Sam,

What I used to do with the shrouds and hiking wires was to put the tiller out to one side (resting on the temporary rope that tied the rudder bar to the frame for trailering) and use my paddle out the other side. This kept the lines from catching under the corner castings. Now I just make sure the lines are lying on the tramp inboard of the corners. I do one other thing though. I tie the bungee cords that link the trap wires to the tramp lacing up close to the dolphin striker. This keeps the trap wires from flopping around and getting caught somewhere.

Alfred,

I have never used the righting bag but do carry it with me. I bought some used sails from someone who gave it to me. I hope it works. I haven't really gone over in quite a while. When the wind really gets up I look for someone to crew. My grandson and I were out once where I clocked us at almost 18 mph with my GPS. He was out on the wire. There were times we went faster but I couldn't take time to look at the GPS.

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Howard