80 Hobie 16

Just picked up a 1980 Hobie 16. Have next to 0 sailing experience, but I would consider myself to know the basics from reading and watching videos. Boat needs very little work to get it ready to sail from what I can tell. I've ordered a handful of stainless bits, and I shattered one of those plastic rudder cam spring screws while trying to fix the whole cam system not popping up. Sails seem decent, I think they might be older based off of the sail pattern pdf, it looks like they're #9. There's also a dent in the mast about 2 feet up from the base, no bend or crease, just a dent (the guy I bought it from wasn't using a stepping hinge, I wonder what happened to it), so I plan to find a good used mast locally if I can, but I'll probably go ahead and do my learning in light winds with this one. Hulls seem good. This winter I'll pull them apart and do some refinishing to pretty them up (along with the rest of the boat).



A couple of questions I want to put to the experts here:

1. My gooseneck pin going into the boom seems pretty well seized up. Any tips or tricks to free it up or do I need to take the cap off and beat it out?

2. It came with no battens... It's not the easiest thing to find a used set. I tried to buy some on ebay and the next day they told me they couldn't send them because FedEx and UPS changed their shipping costs and it was going to cost $130 to ship them. I'm eager to get on the water, can I sail ok without them?

I might pop back into this thread as I think of things or to post up a couple more pictures. Please leave any tips or reading/video links for a new sailor.

Thanks guys!

I would probably just leave the gooseneck pin alone. You could drill out the rivets on the end cap, pull the cap out, and try to free the pin, but I don't think it would gain you much. The pin is intended to more or less stay in a fixed position anyway.

I would not sail the boat without battens in the sails. There is a lot of roach (material located aft of an imaginary line between the head and clew) in the main and jib. Without the battens, that material will just be flapping around which won't be good for performance or for the sail. The battens also help induce and stabilize shape in the sails. Without them, the sails will be very "floppy." I would put something in there, even if it's just some pieces of 2x lumber that you rip down to 1/4" thick or so, sand smooth, and tie in to the sail.

sm

Where are you located?

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Sanford, NC

Ok thanks for the advice, now I've just got to find some battens!

I remember getting a batten in a store in Wilmington a long time ago. I also ordered parts from a place in SC. I believe it was Sea and Ski.

You might go over to Jordan Lake at Vista Point and check with the Hobie sailors there. At one time, Hobies lined the beach at Vista Point though in recent years the number decreased a lot. Still, there are enough there that someone should be able to help. Saturday would be a good time.

_________________
Howard

srm is spot on about needing battens, you will chafe your sail to death without them. For performance you will want proper battens, but fiberglass driveway marker sticks, yard/meter sticks will suffice until you can snag some proper battens.

Don't worry about the dent. The most highly stressed part of the mast is where the standing rigging connects. Near the base the mast must only resolve compressive stresses and some small bending loads.

About 14 years ago the mast track on my H16 was bent out by expanding ice in the mast track just below the slot for the sail. It was bad enough to leave a 2" vertical crack on the inside of the mast track. I restored the function of the mast track with a small sledge hammer and have been sailing hard ever since. Several pitchpoles later the mast is doing fine and the crack has not grown.

Enjoy the boat, it looks like a good one!

That is a good idea about using those fiberglass yard markers, but I don't think I'd be able to find one long enough. I am definitely open to the idea of getting something in there that will bridge the gap until I can find some proper battens. But what exactly? I'd need to find something 108" long.

My mast stepper came in the mail so I got it all rigged up yesterday:



The mast is heavy...

After putting it all up I have a couple more questions.

1. How tight should my tramp be? You can see in the picture that it looks a little saggy with nobody on it.

2. How much mast rake should there be? I had it on the top holes of the shroud stay adjusters and the jib tight and i was able to pull the main sheet blocks together until they touched pretty easily.

3. Rigging the main sheet and de-rigging it to put the boom away is a real pain and time-waster, is there a better way? Can I pull the traveler out of the track easily?

4. Someone told me a regular tarp would hurt the fiberglass somehow, I've never heard anything like that, what should I use to cover it when it's stored?

Thanks guys!

I usually remove the blocks from the boom and unpin the lower block from the traveler car, windup the excess sheet and store it in a gym size bag with other extra hardware.

_________________
JKK
83 yellow/ white decks Hobie 14 Corando turbo
82 yellow hulls Hobie 16 Cat Fever
84 yellow hulls hobie 16 Yellow Nationals
plus a few extras that I'm restoring

Looks great nice job enjoy!

Tramp should be as tight as you can make it without pulling out the grommets or ripping all the skin off your hands.... Seriously, some folks make the tramp on a 16 so tight that the side bars bow inwards. Keep in mind that if you have an aftermarket tramp (which looks to be the case), it may not be up to the task of handling that much load. But either way, the tramp should not be floppy.


There's a ton of discussion and theory about how much mast rake is right on a 16, and the number has changed over the years as the boats have evolved to accept more rake. But in general, you should rake back as far as you can while still allowing the sheets to be pulled in tight for going upwind. At some point, you will rake back so far that the leech of the sail will not get tight and you won't be able to sail upwind.


You can not easily remove the traveler car from the track, but as mentioned above, just pull the pin between the lower mainsheet block and the traveler car (note you will still need to un-string the traveler sheet from the traveler car each time). You can also unpin the upper blocks from the boom if you want.


The tarp will only hurt the boat if it's allowed to move around and chafe the boat. Just make sure it's tied securely and you should be fine. You may want to remove it if a large wind storm is forecast. Also, if you "tent" the tarp over the mast, make sure it is not able to collect water or snow as the load can break the mast or boat. When doing this, I usually punch a couple holes in the tarp to be sure it can not hold water. You'd be amazed how easily a small puddle can grow to many gallons of water capable of bowing a mast like a toothpick.

sm

The traveler car stays on the boat.
When storing things away, I simply leave the sail on the boom, and I leave the blocks attached to the boom also. I lay the sheets and blocks inline with the boom and roll the sail up on the boom and put it all in a sail bag. The jib is also rolled up within the mainsail. Very neat and easy to set up keeping everything together.

_________________
Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

Thanks, guys, I really appreciate the help!

These things are fantastic. Use them on my blocks, and all over the place on my Hobie 16, Hobie 20 and two hobie 14's. Don't use them for standing rigging ( wires holding up the mast obviously ) but setup and take down time gets cut in half. When coming in fast, even the most novice crew will understand "pull the pin". Cool thing is they never fall off! I'd get 10 so you have spares and even help a fellow sailor then they drop a shackle in the water and their trailer/sail box is a long hike away. I keep a few spares on all my boats just so they're handy. Have never broken or lost one.

6.8 x 3cm size seems to be the ones i go to. Try one or two of the other sizes as well for odd ball general purpose.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Marine-Boat-Ya ... t3a3Kuxe-w

_________________
Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.

Going back to the drivewawy marker battens:

To make one long stick out of several short sticks, overlap the sticks by 6" and wrap the overlap in packaging tape or strapping tape.