Cat Trax/ Hobie 16 Portage System

Hello,

I had a question about using Cat Trax or some other Hobie Cat portage system.

I have a Hobie Cat 16 which I sail on a pond in Southern RI. There is a small barrier beach which seperates the the pond from the ocean, probably no more than 50 yards wide. I would like to start sailing the Hobie out in the ocean. So I was thinking about perhaps getting some Cat Trax and sialing across to the beach and then loading up the Hobie and pushing it across the beach and onto the ocean side.

I was curious whether people had any suggestions about using Cat Trax or Cadkat or whether there are any other good methods.

Thanks,
Steve

I use cat trax on my H18. I love them. Best money I spent on that boat so far. Expensive but worth it.

If I understand you correctly, you want to launch your H16 into the pond, sail across the pond, beach it, move it across a barrier, then relaunch it into the ocean.

IMHO I would first say it will be difficult to conviniently store the beach wheels on the boat while sailing. They will just get in the way of you , your crew and your lines. An easier solution is to launch the boat directly into the ocean and forego the portage. I know RI has plenty of ocean access for launching your boat.

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Nick

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

Think like a Viking. Cut down some trees, lay them parallel, and then roll the boat over to the larger body of water.

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"Breach hull all die"
'83 H16
'90 Hobie One 12

I don't know how big your pond is, but if you are just sailing across it to get to the ocean, I would think you could lay your cat trax across the top of your two hulls. Put them forward of the mast about halfway between the front crossbar and the front of the boat. Seems like you could bungee them there so they would be out of the way of jib lines and not in the way of your crew. Then you could sail carefully across the pond, take them off and roll the boat across the beach. Then leave them there while you do some serious sailing. Then reverse the process on the way home. Just a thought.

Here is a cheap alternative if you dn't already have CatTarx.
http://dgaleana2.proboards56.com/index. ... 1143785090

Doug

Thanks Doug, I have seen a few do-it-yourself jobs but this is the absolute best. It is practically the real thing at a fraction of the price. I will be building one of these this summer. Again, Thanks

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"Breach hull all die"
'83 H16
'90 Hobie One 12

I went with eurotrax and like them alot