How cold is too cold?

I don't mind the cold but is there a temperature that should be avoided for the sake of the boat or rigging... besides the most obvious side effect of cold ...ice?

Obviously safety concerns are paramount at low temperatures (good crappy weather gear and whatnot).

Jeff.

Your circulatory system will give out long before the Hobie does. Unless you run it into an iceberg...maybe.

sm

A rather subjective question at best.

For me, too cold to enjoy the day is too cold.

I have heard that a good rule of thumb is if the combination of air temp and water temp is below 100 that is kind of a safety threshhold.

Water temp 65 + air temp 35 = 100. Warm enough to sail ????
Water temp 33 air temp 67 = 100. Warm enough to sail ???
Water Temp 72 + Air Temp 75 = 147 Warm Enough to Sail !!!!!!

My own rule of thumb is that if either myself or my crew is shivvering, it is time to start thinking about going in before someone gets hypothermic.
I find it somewhat curious, but often when racing, I get cold, while just sitting between races, however, once the race starts, I forget all about my discomfort.

Stephen

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

When I say I don't mind the cold I SCUBA dive late in the season, ice on the boat deck. I start when the water is still in the low 40's and I dive wet...I haven't been in in a couple of years now but the early and late season stuff is the best...more room in the water.

I was more wondering if there were some thing that I couldn't conceive of that could affect a small cat when the temp drops...but still above freezing. Reason I wonder is, if I pick up the boat that has my name on it it will be quite late in the season and was debating whether to just store it for the winter and start fresh...but again, early in the season when the ice is off the lakes.

Sounds like I need to worry more about me than the boat anyway.

Jeff.

When I was MUCH Younger, I sailed here in Colorado in October with snow flying and iceicles hanging off of the boom. Didn't enjoy it much, and getting the boat on the trailer and prepped for the drive home was sheer misery. Wouldn't do that on a bet now. Not sure If I'm older and wiser, or just getting soft in my old age.

Stephen

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

I think its older and softer

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

heheheheheheheheeeeee good one. (those are chuckles, not outright laughter..)

Old age and stealth trumps youthful enthusiasm ! ! !

Keep chuckling Chris ..... you're halfway from either

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

I am beginning to shiver just thinking about the first two scenarios!

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

I just started sailing last year. Got my 16 out Sept. 27 and sailed until Nov. 13 when I broke the jib halyard and the jib came down in a 20knot wind. IT was pretty cold up here in CT on the long island sound. WAter temp was 50-55 and air temp was maybe 40. Cold but bearable This year plan on goin out longer. Hey, the frostbiter clubs around here sail their small keelboats and dingys all winter so why not. If you wanna see a vid of my jib down I took videos last year of my first 6 times out and posted on youtube. search for glessbitch and the one that says 6th time out is the one im talking about. Beware of a little foul language. If anybody checks it out I hope you enjoy. And any RI or CT or east end Long Island Hobie sailors give me a shout would love to hang out with anybody who wants to go out.

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~Kyle Gless '77 Hobie 16

The rule of thumb that we use is 'take air temps and water temps in F, add the two, if less than a total of 120, a wetsuit is mandatory'.

Some years ago, or maybe 18 lbs ago, I foolishly entered the Nepean SC Fall regatta. The night before, a weather front came through, and even though the water temps were 68F, the NW wind blew a consistent 15 Knots. Air temp was around 48F, but the wind chill was around 34F. I wore a pure wool undershirt, a wetsuit, KWay windbreaker top and bottom set, scuba boots and sailing gloves. I was not cold, but neither was I warm, just bearable. Everything was fine until I capsized in the last race....

Anyone got a link to that Swedish video of a H16 running in near ice conditions????......as stated above, the humans will bail out long before the Hobie starts complaining.

BTW, we leave our Hobie's out in the Club parking lot over the winter. They can take the cold.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Here in Colorado, we have temp extremes from 100+ in the summertime to sometimes -20 in the wintertime. (even lower in the mountains)

Two things to be concerned about.
1. Make sure the hulls are as absolutely dry as possible. The freeze/thaw of moisture in the hulls is a major contributing factor to soft spots.
(in my opinion, that is really true for all seasons and all climates. Moisture, when left in the hulls without a way to evaporate and escape will cause soft spots)

2 Take off the tramp ! snow loads have been known to "crush" the hulls down on the rollers. This problem most often occurs on boats with symetrical hulls like the 17, 18, 20, and Tiger, not so much a problem on the 14's and 16's.

For the same reason, be careful how you cover the boat. Do not cover the whole thing with a large tarp. if you want to protect the hulls from sun damage, cut a large tarp into a couple of pieces that just cover the hulls without giving the snow a way to accumulate and "load" the tarp where it is stretched between the hulls. An added benefit of removing the tramp between sailing seasons is that you will get many more years of use out of it before you have to replace it. I know it is a pain to take it off and put it back on each year, but new tramps are getting downright spendy.

Stephen

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Hey, John L.

I'm in Smiths Falls... 45 minutes out of Ottawa. I hadn't gotten around to looking for any Hobie fans locally yet.

Are there many in Ottawa?

Jeff.

There was at least 6 of us out last weekend up on Constance Bay.4 H16's and 2 H14's.

Besides the Constance Bay gang upriver, try
Brittania SC, (I think 3 Hobie's),
Nepean SC, (with Hobies, Tornados, Solcats, and scores of 420's, I-14's, 29'ers, a 49'er, Fireballs, etc), check them out at http://www.nsc.ca

LDSC (Lac des Chesnes SC) with a very active fleet of Hobie 16's 17's 18's 20's and Tigers,

Ours, Kanata SC, (http://www.kanatasailingclub.com), with H16's H18's, a Wave, and a Tiger.
I don't know what is at Club Voile du Aylmer.

On the river below Parliament Hill, I do not know what is at the RA Centre SC, nor at the Gatineau SC, other than privateer H18 Adrio Taucer, who views this Forum daily.

Brockville SC has mostly dingies and keelboats, with some power boats.

Still four more weeks of sailing!

cheers

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'