Hobie 14 mainsail on a Hobie 16

Two of my sailing buddies have moved away. It looks like, in the near term anyway, there's more single handed sailing in the future. I have seen that the use of a 14 mainsail can help.

Questions:
- Which 14 mainsail? Traditional or "square top" Is it true that the square top spills more readily? That would be a plus.
- Is it OK to drill and install another block hanger on my 16 boom? I'll rather not buy another boom if a simple fix will do.
- I'll have install another stopper on the main halyard. Is it possible to install one on my existing halyard?

Thanks!

Joe Bennett did it a few months ago -- see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLqCWIFJXyE Probably will find many of the answers to your questions.

Jim Clark-Dawe

You could certainly add another block hanger to your boom, but I don’t see why you would need to do that. If you’re going to use the 16 boom with the 14 sail, the position of the blocks would not need to change since the location of the blocks relative to the rear crossbar is not changing.



I think it would be difficult to add another bead to the halyard after it’s already been assembled. An easier approach would be to create a pigtail (extension) that you can attach between the halyard shackle and the head plate on the 14 sail. Then you could continue to use the existing bead on the halyard.

sm

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know how it goes.

I wonder if you have found the answer to this question yet. I have the H14 and was just wondering if it is possible to fit it with H16 hulls. I would guess that this might be basically the same question. The reason I ask is because I am almost always solo but I would appreciate the extra buoyancy when I take my kids out. I'm 170lbs and my kids are probably about 100 each, plus or minus. I love soloing the 14, but righting a 16 scares me. I know, I know, I could get a bag or a pole, but I was just wondering if a hybrid 14/16 might be a feasible solution as well.

One final question.
I have a comp tip mast and I should replace the halyard. The pig tail solution described above is a good one. How about using the steel halyard that's used for the all aluminum mast. They come with two stops (one for reefing). I also don't know what the difference in length is between the primary stop and the reefing stop. I understand the difference between the 16 & 14 sail luff length is 3' 8".

Thanks