Broken cheek block

Hello everyone... novice to the Hobie 16 here! I've actually had my boat for about 3 years, sailed it the first year and had it stored for the last 2 (protected from the weather) because I changed cars and don't have a hitch on my new one. I know, sailing was obviously not my top priority.

I've since started taking the boat out again and this is DEFINITELY my new hobby that I am going to try and become a master at.

My problem is that when I took my boat out one time 3 years ago....being the novice that I am....I tightened the shrouds too tight before raising the jib. I couldn't get the jib to loosen the forestay and I kept cranking on the halyard as hard as I could until...you guessed it, the plastic cheek block literally disentegrated in front of my eyes. Not too sure the terminology. I'm guessing it's called the cheek block from what I've read in the parts manual and these forums. It's the locking plastic piece that helps the halyard stay where it was when you try and crank some more.

It seems like I'm not getting the mast forward enough when tightening the jib and the mainsail seems a little low. (I've moved the shrouds back to the fourth hole.) Would replacing this cheek block help my problem? I was told it's only about a $25 piece and the guy will rivet it on for me. On the ruler on my mast my boom goes down about 5 inches when the downhaul is pulled down. I'm pretty sure I'm getting the main halyard over the hook at the top of the mast.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give! I'm ready to get out on the water right now just talking about all this.

-Rich
Tampa, FL

Rich,

I just want to be sure when you say cheek block you are talking about the the small block about 1 foot or so from the mast base that is mounted on the mast itself. There was a thread on catsailor.com where everyone thought the poster was talking about the jib blocks instead.

When I bought my 16 that block wasn't even there. I didn't know I "needed" it until about 3 years after I bought the boat. Yes, it makes it slightly easier to tighten the jib with the block, but I find it unnecessary. In my opinion there are better things on your boat to spend money on. It may wear out the jib halyard faster, but I feel it is not a big deal. Plus, if your mast is waterproof why temp fate and drill holes into it.

Also, you want the mast to be raked back. It will help balance the helm. No matter how hard you pull on the jib halyard once you tighten the shrouds you will not get the mast any more vertical. All you want to do is get the shrouds snug and the luff of the jib tight. You will notice that the forestay will become slack when the jib halyard is tight. This is OK. The forestay is used when rigging the boat and for a saftey percaution if the jib halyard breaks.

You will know if your main halyard is hooked when you tension the downhaul. If your sail starts to drop it's not. Also, you only want to tension the downhaul in light ot medium air enough to get the wrinkles out of the luff of the main. If you over tighten the downhaul you will bend your mast and depower the main. This is undesireable in light air.

All of the "tuning" information I gave you is for general pleasure sailing. Some of the racers on this forum have alot more knowledge than me about all the go-fast tricks. I'm just getting you out onn the water to start learning.

Have fun!

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Thanks Nick!

Yes, I was referring to the block at the bottom of the mast. I can't believe I got that right (if I actually did). I've been able to get the forestay to go slack so I figured I was getting enough tension on the halyard to move the mast forward a little. I will start my shopping list again!

The main doesn't come all the way down when I tighten the downhaul but I'm not sure if it's down too far. How far down should the outhaul be tightened before it starts taking out the wrinkles? I have a ruler on my mast starting at 10 going down and it gets to about 5.

The reason I'm unsure about all this all of a sudden is because I was stuck on the water with little wind but this Hobie 14 was able to move up and down the inlet...slowly, but moving. His sails looked tighter than mine and the back of the main seemed higher on his boat. I figured it was because the 14 and 16 were just different.

Thanks for the help again!

-Rich

Rich,

It's had ro tell you what number ot tighten the downhaul to since I don't knwo who put the ruler on your mast and how they lined it up. The ruler is used as a boat specific scale so you can adjust your downhaul for different coditions.

For getting rid of the wrinkles look at the panels between your batten pockets. These areas should be smooth and there should be very little mast bend near the top of the mast. It shouldn't require much force to accomplish this.

To help you adjust your sails properly using the travelers and the sheets you should get tell-tales. There is a FAQ on this site to show you where to intall them and how to use them. They "tell" you what the air is doing over your sail and how to mamimize your sails performace for the current conditions. It take practive to learn how to use them, but well worth it. Especially in light air since every little mistake is so costly in terms of sail power.

The 14 and 16 are different boats but sail similarly. If the 14 has no jib the 16 should be able to move faster since the jib adds lots of power. The fastest way to learn how to sail your boat is go with someone on your 16 or thiers and just watch and ask questions. Each boat is different but the basic ideas are the same.

Where do you sail?

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Rich,

It's very easy to get the main too tight in light wind. A common mistake is "I'm not moving fast enough, so I'll pull on the main sheet more". The back of the boom, what I'm assuming you saw on the 14 being "higher" than yours, is directly related to how tight the main is sheeted. His main sail/sheets were loose letting the main naturally take on a foil/wing shape and creating forward motion. You "build" a little shape into your sails, on land, by tightening the battens, giving the sail a curve. Oversheeting, or pulling the boom too close to the rear crossbar flattens the sail out, that's OK in medium to heavy winds, but in light winds it's like stepping on the brake pedal.

Then as Nick stated, the downhaul for the front of your sail, should always be pulled just tight enough to take out the wrinkles. The same thing is happening here, too tight and you're flattening the sail and taking out the curve you put in when tensioning the battens.

Hope this makes sense.

Pray for those on the coast.

_________________
hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

I sail in the bay of Tampa, FL. I've been sailing mostly at Davis Islands right now because it's literally 1 minute away but I used to drop in Dunedin before...about 20 minutes away. D.I. is a yacht club with a lot of boats moored in the middle of the water. Navigation is a BLAST there! There's a short channel that I have to get through and then it's the open bay. I have the most trouble in that inlet fom the launch to the open bay. There usually aren't many cats at D.I. and there are quite a few at Dunedin. I wanted to see if I could remember everything before I ventured back out to Dunedin.

Thanks to both you and John for the tips. I plan on using them this weekend to see if I can't master that boat graveyard. It really does make sense when I think about it. John is right....I made the mistake of sheeting the main all the way in trying to get some speed. I have tell tales and try to use them as much as I can. I guess I can consider myself a notch above novice maybe. Don't want to get overconfident...

I also made an amateur mistake of not using the traveller. Truth be told, I actually got back into sailing after a cruise to the Bahamas where we rented a Hobie Wave. There is no traveller on that boat and it's a real beginner's boat. But I had a blast and it felt safer sailing without moving the traveller on my 16 until I got more confident. I think I'll change that this weekend.

I will keep you two informed of my progress if you like and will be praying for the people in the path of Hurricane Rita.

-Rich