Invested in a Hobie 18

Congratulations that all your hard work paid off!

Sounds like you have the old style mast rotator. I bent that my first time out. The new one that Hobie makes is much more sturdy, I'd recommend upgrading to it.

The standard 3:1 downhaul is awful. Completely useless. I'd recommend buying or building an upgraded downhaul. I run 5:1, a lot of folks run 6:1, 8:1 or even 9:1.

Mainsheet is 7/16" as stock, but many people run with 3/8" or even 5/16" for a smoother and faster run through the blocks, but at the expense of less grip. There's a lot of thoughts on what the "best" mainsheet material is, but I'd recommend talking to your local sailing shop. Also, the stock length for the mainsheet could easily be shortened by 5-10 feet without hindering performance.

Best of luck at the races!

I would be wary about shortening the mainsheet.......
that's a sure way to capsize if you have to do a high speed gybe in wind.....and the mainsheet is not long enough.
don't ask how I know.....
(Yes, I cleated the main on the centre line, and ask we turned, we hit waves, and the main uncleated itself)

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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.'

Today we went out again. Mast rotation is still a struggle but at least possible to limit the rotation now.

That's because your rotator is rigged wrong. You have the boom passing through the rotator arm (wishbone). The rotator arm should be entirely above the boom, then tie off a line to the cleat located at the front, on the top of the boom. Pass the line through the back of the arm and then lead back to the cleat. This gives you 2:1 adjustment.

sm

Oh, i see! That´s obvious now when i understand it! Thanks!

What is the purpose of the line(s) strung from wing to wing? Are they just to prevent the jib sheet from fouling on the mast base, or do they have something to do with the way you've rigged your trapeze?

It was only to keep the mastrotation in control.
Here is a video from when my friend went overboard, we were hit by a wave: https://www.facebook.com/christer.ljungqvist/videos/10153838846268666/

We finished as the third boat today in the race Ornäsregattan.

I've read through this thread and enjoyed the outcome. It shows that you can always save the boat and get it back on the water. That's quite encouraging when buying some plastic-bucket from twenty or thirty years ago.

Vännern and Vättern are among the best Cat-venues in the world. I've been sailing 16s there in the European regatta series in the mid- or late 80s. Staying in Jönköpping was already very expensive by that time ....

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information is not knowledge
Hobie 18 Formula, Hobie DuraGlide 10'10