Rigging an old legacy 14 for the first time

I hoping someone can help steer me in the right direction, I'm new to beach cats altogether and trying to make sense of this set up...

Here's what I have, I came across an old (70's I'm guessing) Hobie 14 at an auction over the winter and brought it home! Hulls seem to be in good shape, crossbars and tramp good, mast and standing rigging look good too, but that's all I got with it. No boom, no sail, no main sheet/blocks. I have since acquired most of the missing parts (I think). But of course I have never talked with the previous owner (or anyone else) about how they set it up.

Now here are my questions...

First, when I stepped the mast for the first time, I have a VERY loose rig. The shrouds came with a seven hole chain plate and the pins where already in the third hole from the bottom. When I connected the forestay to the bridal, I assumed I would have firm tension in one of the middle holes, but even straight into the bottom hole the shrouds are not tight at all, tons of play. I moved the shrouds to the lowest hole and now the rigging has almost no slack, but not at all what I would expect. It's also seems to have a ton of mast rake now with the shrouds all the way down, but not sure how to properly measure the mast rake.
After a lot of reading on the web, I did see it mentioned that on the old 14s' the rigging is supposed to be very loose. Can anyone confirm this? Any suggestions? My first thought was to shorten the forestay, but I realize now these are factory items that should be the proper length already. Does anyone know how long to should be, I haven't found a wire chart with this info.

Second issue. I bought an old boom from someone parting out an old boat It came with the old style blocks, and he through in the swivel cam cleat that was mounted on the aft crossbar. When I got home, I see my boat does not have the swivel cam cleat and doesn't look as though it ever did, no holes in the cross bar. I know the racket block of the mainsheet connects to the traveler car, but then from most pictures I've seen, it looks like the mainsheet also goes through the swivel cam cleat. Did the old boat not have this? Do I need to add it? The one I got with the boom has a black plastic mounting plate, but it doesn't seem like it fits this boat. If I were to mount it, it would be tilted forward and the forward screw hole look like it would go right though the bolt rope of the tramp. This also seems redundant to me, as the lower block has a cam cleat. What is the purpose of the one mounted on the crossbar?

Any advise would be most appreciated!! Looking forward to getting this old boat out on the water soon!!


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Just to be clear, I am not a H14 guy....

Have you downloaded the Manual or the parts diagram?
That will show you 80% of what you need to know.
Look up pictures of H14's on Google, that will give you another 10%.
The rest you can get from the Forum.

Yes, the rigging on a H14 is extremely loose, and it runs better that way.

Are there any Sailing Clubs near you?
Anyone near you sail beach cats?
Most Hobie folks are friendly and helpful, that's how I learned most of my stuff.

Good luck and good winds.
We'll be under lockdown, likely until August.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Check out the summer 2010 edition of the Hotline for a Hobie 14 tuning guide for racing.
http://www.w1dm.com/Projects/HOTLINE/10-05-08%20HOTLINE.pdf

Also check the Hobie 14 Assembly Manual.
https://static.hobiecat.com/digital_assets/e_h14manual1.pdf?_ga=2.197740396.254963590.1587425524-2029119106.1505777923

For rigging lengths, do a google search for “hobie wire guide.” The search should show a PDF with factory wire length specs.

Racers generally run the rig loose on the 14 mainly so they can be raked back upwind and then use a line to pull the rig upright for downwind sailing. This isn’t really necessary for recreational sailing - just make the rig snug so the mast won’t jump out of the step if you capsize.

The cleat you are probably referring to is the “traveler” cleat. The traveler is a slider in the rear crossbar that the mainsheet attaches to. It has a separate line that controls its position relative to centerline. The very old boats had two V-cleats on each end of the rear crossbar to control the traveler. Later boats were upgraded to the much improved version with a central cam cleat for controlling the traveler.

sm

Thanks guys for the replies! Very helpful links. And yes, I see now I must have one of the "very old" boats. I do have to "V" cleats for the traveler. So that clears up my confusion on the swivel cam I thought I was missing. Seems like that might need to be updated in the future, but for now I think I can get on water with what I have. And yes, I plan to keep it at a local Hobie beach this summer, where I'm sure I'll learn a lot from the others.

Thanks again!

I would definitely recommend upgrading the traveler cleat to a central cam cleat system and the traveler car itself to the type with needle bearings. This is one of the upgrades that will make a huge difference in performance, regardless of your skill level.

sm