First off let me appologize for this long winded response, but with the release of the much anticipated spinnaker kit, Hobie has opened up a whole new door to the entire industry. We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg here, as creative people begin to realize the true capabilities of these amazing craft the flood gates will soon open.
Unfortunately, all this is incredibly difficult to explain, read no further if your bored.
One reason I converted my spinnaker halyard line from the big long loop to the back of the boat over to a separate rear stay line, and re-routed the spinnaker halyard line so it comes down right next to the mast is for ease of stepping the mast. Obviously my setup is slightly different from the standard Hobie setup since I have two separate halyards (one for the spin and the other for the jib), and I run both my jibs and spinnakers on roto furling rigid masts. The function is the same, but boy is it hard to explain I'll try to explain in as few words as possible (too late). I wanted the ability to be able to kayak inland on rivers with all the sails down, AMA's folded in and pulled up out of the water (so they don't drag in the water), with the motors tilted up so I can quietly kayak river inlets using the mirage drives. I don't neccessarily like leaving all the sails and the AMA back at the camp site. I typically get my fill of the quiet kayaking pretty quickly so then I want to head out to big open water where I can open her up, (her being my TI in full sailing mode in big water). This normally involves passing under several low bridges. Sometimes our campsite/launch point can be a ways inland. Once I get out into open water past all the bridges, the quiet (2mph) kayaking mode gets boring very quickly, and If I don't have my AMA's and sails along with (sitting on the trailer back at the campsite), I start cursing at myself profusely. So instead of causing a ruckus, most of the time I just bring all that crap along. Once I clear all the low bridges and get offshore, I stop, let the AMA's down and swing them out. I then raise the main mast (with the mast topper already installed (I seldom remove the mast topper). I then need to climb to the back and clip the rear static stay line to the back of the boat. If I'm going to use just the jib I also clip the jib halyard to the top of the jib. I then hoist the jib with the halyard, once up I lock the halyard into the cleats onto the front X-bar and stuff all that extra line into the front left mesh pocket for the day. I'm now ready for full blown offshore sailing in adventure mode. All my control and furler lines are just left rigged all the time on the boat and never removed,(takes around 5-10 minutes to convert the boat while out on the water). I usually make a decision right then and there if I'm going to be using the spinnaker that day or not. If the winds are below 12mph, then the spinnaker stays down (just laying down in the side of the cockpit). The only downside to spinnakers is the fastest they can possibly go is 1=1 with windspeed. If your already traveling 2x or 3x windspeed, they are giant airbrakes. Keep in mind I typically only ever go out in winds under 8mph), so the spin is seldom used. I then go out and have my fun which usually involves hanging out at some remote sand bar that can be many miles away (often meeting up with powerboat friends). Once I've had my fill it's time to go back I get back to the inlet, drop the jib and clip the jib and spin halyard line to a handy spot on the front crossbar. Climb back to the back of the boat and unclip the rear static stay (which is really just an anti rotation device for the mast topper). I then lift the main mast out and lay it down in the boat (with the mast topper still attached), I then put my motors up, fold the AMA's in and lash them up in the air (so their not touching the water). Then I make my way back inland to wherever I came from.
Now the reason for doing everything this way. Around here anyway there are two launches that I can access big water from directly, and they are 5-6 miles from where we like to hang out. By rigging the boat in this manner, my number of possible launch points increases to a hundred in the area. Basically any kayak launch in the area (nearly every one of them eventually leads to big water (some a mile or so inland). Obviously everything here is self imposed, and revolves around the fact that I love kayaking up to the point where I see the big water and get really bored going two mph. And the fact that anything of interest to me can be 15 miles away (the area is gigantic). I'm simply not wiiling to pedal my kayak at two mph the 20 or so miles up to Egmont Key, I like kayaking, but not that much (lol)).
A really good example is when we go up to Crystal river. It's really fun to launch and quietly kayak around the springs. Great fun, but you can see with your own eyes the big ocean 5 miles down the river calling your name, beckoning you. Sure I can peddle on out there, but that takes a whole afternoon at 2mph. I like my setup much more.
I have no idea what all this means to anyone else, I'm just throwing it out there hoping to give you guys some insight on how to rig your boats so you can enjoy the best of all worlds versatality wise. One boat that does it all (lol). No wind, no problem, no good launches , no problem, low bridges everywhere, no problem, high seas open water, no problem, ability to travel great distances at acceptable speeds (none of this 2mph crap), again no problem. And best yet I can car top the whole works if I need to. I'm just stating here, there is no other craft available on the planet that can do what a TI can do (bar none). Even with all my mods the dang boat is still cheaper than an entry level WR17, and half the cost of a WETA, yet does so much more. I just gotta say to Hobie, "what they have created is light years beyond anything on the market today, and on anyones drawing boards for the forseeable future", Just sayin I'm darn impressed, the thing pushes all my buttons. You can easily do as little or as much modification wise, to turn your TI into an incredible craft (blows my mind anyway) FE
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