Boom on a wave for heavy air.

I was out last Sunday and the Sunday before, both days were 20 to 25 mph, with the winds this Sunday gusting to 35. One thing I noticed about this boat, is that as you go down wind, if you should happen to get a sudden gust at your quarter. The sail has a nasty habit of ridding up the shroud and creating a nice top heavy shape, and you get to go swimming.

I was thinking about two approaches to this problem first a traveler for better sail control, and a boom to be used only on truly windy days. Perhaps with a small vang, maybe 3 to 1. Any suggestions?

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Quick. Hold my beer, Watch this.

The traveler sounds like a good idea. It will provide a lot more sail control.

A true vang is almost impossible to use on a cat, especially with the rotating mast. You would have to release and re-set the vang every time you tack. And if you forget to do so, you run the risk of breaking your battens or worse, your mast. Also, you get a whole lot more leverage by using the mainsheet to control the leech of the sail as opposed to a 3:1 vang.

sm

Good point about the vang, I was not taking into account the rotating mast, I was just going off of what worked on my other boats. Sorry got mono hulls on the brain.

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Quick. Hold my beer, Watch this.

Definitely get the traveler if you want to control sail shape in high winds. I find that it makes a huge difference in sail control.

A boom, along with a traveler, would be even better, performance-wise, but the Wave main is not designed for one. At least not the typical Hobie style boom. Not to hijack the thread, but I often wondered if anyone has ever considered taking a H14 main and having it recut to fit the 2' shorter Wave mast. A H14 boom/gooseneck should fit, as the mast is the same extrusion. It would probably give you more sail area, even recut. Ok, now I am just babbling nonsense.

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Jim

2007 Hobie Wave