Hello

I found your forum a bit ago and wanted to spend some time reading before I posted. I picked up a used Hobie 16' from a girl I work with, it's in excellent shape, a small soft spot about the size of a hand on the right front hull, other than that she's good to sail. Lost title so it'll be awhile before I can get her in the water(Yay Texas..read the other title posts).

My biggest problem is setting the mast. As is now, me and my dad can barely get it up. I don't think it would ever be possible for me and my 100 lb wife to get it done, and I originally bought the boat for me and her.

I read about the EZStep and some other products, but with searching I can't find anywhere to buy. I need advice on making this easier. Nearest Hobie dealer is about 6 or so hours away.

My dad sailed 20 years ago and I haven't touched a sailboat, ever. This is probably not the best boat to learn on, but the price was right and I feel it left room to grow. Are there any books you could recommend to me that could explain this better? Currently looking for a Sunfish to learn on before I do something stupid on this boat.

Dont give up so easy. I got a hobie from a friend and i had never sailed but i threw it together put it in the water and learned. Not hard. as far as steping the mast, i agree its a pain to just hoist it. I just started using the ratchet on the front of the trailer with a pulley at the top and hooked it to the forestay, its a JerryRig but it works. Its all worth it when you fly a hull!!!

Welcome!

My wife and I just started sailing about a month ago on a Hobie 16. Neither of us have ever sailed before either. We've been out in winds up to around 13 mph so far, and have learned more every time we go out. I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to learn on a different boat first. I know it would certainly be more expensive.

We’ve got a method for raising the mast that isn’t too bad. The first time was a little tricky, but after that we haven’t had any real problems.

We start out by walking the mast back off of the cradle and putting the mast step pin in. I am on the trampoline and she is out behind the boat. She puts the mast up over her head and walks her and her hands forward to get the mast up high enough to where I can grab it without destroying my back (she can get it up to around my knee level). I’m usually facing aft when I first grab it and then as I turn forward (to the left) I put it up on my (right) shoulder. Then you just walk it forward. You may have to push it up some to get the base of the mast into the cup. I end up leaning it forward against the shrouds and I find the forestay and swing it to my wife. She hooks it into the forestay connector and then I slowly let the mast back. Pull the pin and you’re done.

I’m not sure that I would be able to pull this off solo though.

Most Hobie dealers will ship to you as well. I know for me it’s a lot cheaper to pay $5 – 10 in UPS charges than it is to drive over an hour each way.

The book that most people recommend is Catamaran Racing for the 90’s. They also recommend the Rick White sailing seminars. I’ve got the seminars now, but not the book. Do a google search for Hobie University. It’s available free in .pdf format, and is a great starting point.

After that I generally come here and do searches on topics that I’m unsure about.

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1984 H16 - #80541

Welcome to the club!

First, I learned to sail on an H16 about 7 years ago. I did not know about this forum so my progress was slow. Take advantage of us. We love to help and give advice.

As far as stepping the mast, do a search on this forum. You will find many posts discussing this. I used to step my H16 mast solo with and with out mechanical assistance. Much of it is technique. Do the search on the forum and then let us know if you have any questions.

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Nick

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

I keep reading about the pin for raising the mast, but when I tried to do this, the mast would only go up 1/2 way, it became locked and I bent a brand new pin...badly.

Is this normal? It seems like on older boats the pin was meant to do this, but on newer models you can lift the mast all the way up with that pin in..not sure if I'm right or not, but advice would be appreciated.

To give an example, with the mast raised, the pinhole for the mast and the mast cup is a few inches or so away..

Sounds like you're missing the mast step link kit. It's what couples the two holes together.

Part number HC 21380001

Bottom right corner on page 8 of This PDF (also p 49 of the parts catalog).

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1984 H16 - #80541

Great! Thanks for the info, I figured something was missing. That will make this a great deal easier.

My next thing, I was looking at things much closer today and that soft spot is a lot larger than I remembered it. It goes up probably 2ft from the right pylonall the way to about 1ft in front of the front..Can I still use Git Rot for something this large? How much will I need to order? Basically just drill lots of little holes for air, as liquid oozes out, cover with tape, let dry and done basically right? I read the FAQ, just want clarification.

My sails have some rust stains, I read that you can use CLR to clean it. Read about Magica in the FAQ, but would like to try to get something local so I don't have to order : / Do I just kinda spray it on and rub it with a stiff bristled brush? Or how do I go about it?

Thank you guys for the help.

MBounds recently found this web site for cleaning and restoring sails, so you could look into their service - http://www.sailcare.com/sailcarestoryLG.shtml