Tacking without jib

I am new to the hobie and normally sale with the jib but as it was a bit windy the other day and I furled the jib before I went out, thinking it might make life easier. Note there are no other hobies where I am.
I had a lot of trouble tacking, and sailing to windward generally. Is there a trick to it? Is it possible my mast is raked too far back or something? At the first mark I unfurled the jib and everything was sweet.
Thoughts?

Hi hobie14nz

I think all cats are difficut to tack without gibs. I'll the experienced guys answer that. I have a 16 and I know it virtually impossible to tack without using the gib.

Where in NZ are you? I'm in Gisborne. Where do you normally sail?

Anthony

Tacking without the jib is very tough be do able. I am not expert so I will not give the details but there are some guys on here that will tell you exactly how to do it.

Know this, once you can tack the 14 without a jib you will fly through tacks on other boats.

_________________
Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Gree/Guys:

The trick to tacking without a jib is easy. You MUST crack out about 2-3 feet of mainsheet and recleat the second you go head to wind or you will go into irons. If you do SIMPLE, push the boom and rudders away from you and you will back into the tack.

Hope this helps,

Doug

Hey, great to see some Kiwis on the site! Where are you guys sailing. I'm in the Marlborough Sounds. top of the South Island, so if you're ever up/down this way give me a yell.

I find if I get a bit of speed up by sailing more of a beam reach direction than toward the wind, wait for the right moment between waves and turn reasonably sharply to wind. I know a lot of guys say to turn slowly and evenly but I find often I just end up in irons if I'm too cautious. It also seems easier to tack if it's calm rather than rough sea. If its rough you have to time the turn so the waves don't knock ya back.

Hey, I'm still learning so probably better to listen to the more experienced guys. one thing I have noticed, theres no substitute for time on the water. Tacking is definately easier with a jib thou. Good luck

_________________
Hobie 14 Turbo, based in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Hi Muzzer - didn't realise there were so many Kiwis on this site. Have started a new thread in Open Sailing forum to see how many Kiwi's we can dig out of this discussion group.

I find it easier when I sit longer than i think i should on the windward rear crossbar. It puts all the weight there making a pivot point.

Josh:

Congratulations you have just learn how to roll tack. More on it in Ricks "Catamaran Racing for the 90'"

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
"Stress Free"

I've only had my 14 out a few times and I still don't have a jib. When I'm sailing solo I can tack, just barely. It is amazing how light these boats are, there is NO momentum to keep you going, you just stop very quickly. I did indeed discover the boom trick as described above, it tends to help.

When I have a friend on board, or 2 for that matter, I always try to tack but end up in Irons. Its good practice to get out, but I think I'll just gybe from now on. You lose a bit to windward, but its better than stalling.

I still don't have a hiking stick, and I have a tough weather helm, my arm is still killing me. Best of luck.

Get someone to help you adjust your rudders. You should have about 1/8" toe in. May need a little more mast rake.

Doug

Yeah.. roll tacking is the way to go. Another thing that helps me is being carefull about how much rudder imput I put in.. when I was learning on a Sunfish, I tended to put in full rudder imput. If you do that with an H14, you will probably just stop. Instead, I tend to put in between 1/4 to 3/4 of full rudder imput in, depending on my speed. Don't just shove it all the way over! Tacking certainly is hard on a Jib-less H14, but it is doable. I haven't stalled in quite awhile. It is not pure luck. When you start to get good at it, the all the techniques just become second nature. And just think about how good you'll be at tacking any other boat once you get good at the H14!

Just to add my few pennies:

When its me and another, I always try to roll tack if the crew knows how to well. I was out on the South SF Bay this weekend in 18-20 knots and with alot of chop and we roll tacked nearly every time very effectively.

When i'm off by myself, (usually I'm on lakes/reservoirs with anywhere from 5-15 knot winds) i do the boom trick, and every once in awhile i end up doing a complete 2 point tack, backing up a whole 5-10 feet, but for the most part its also very effective. What you have to remember about this is I'm 190# and so I do add a little momentum to it. My biggest problem when I first started with my 14 was really the speed with which I moved those rudders over. I always thought I was being conservative on the speed of my turns, but I never realized how much easier it is to just take it slow and not disrupt the little momentum you have.

Hope it helps somewhat.

_________________
Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"