How to fly a hull (silly question #1)

OK, I'm in my fourth year of Hobie sailing and somehow have never really managed to fly a hull. I mean, I've had a hull inches above the water, but never really had it up in the air. What kind of weather, and what point of sail and boat handling do I need to get to experience the hull flying phenomenon? And what do I need to do to make it safe?

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Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

Sheeted in tight going upwind in anything above 14 mph windspeeds should do it depending on your weight..

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Ben Wells - Hobie 16

If the boat never wants to fly a hull, even in heavy air, you might be undertensioning the jib halyard. My boat goes from being all powered up to dog slow with a 3-5" difference in jib halyard purchase. I've got the Aussie jib setup but it's the same for the older style too. I mark my halyard with a sharpie to make sure I'm in the ballpark when setting up the boat on the beach. I also give it a tweak on the water if I'm feeling overpowered and need to chill the boat out a bit or squeeze a bit more speed outta her. This should help get some power in the rig. Once you've got a hull up, it's like wheely-ing a bike. It's all about balance (given a steady breeze) too high, sheet out a bit, too low, crank it in!
It can be tricky in gusty conditions, but keep the mainsheet in hand and uncleated and you'll be fine. Have fun!

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Blair T

I love these calm moments before the storm, it reminds me of Beethoven...


'02 Hobie Tiger USA 1152

So am I more likely to be able to fly a hull sailing all the way close hauled, or just on a close reach?

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Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

Close hauled to close reach...

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

If you are having trouble close hauled, you can drive down a little and it should pop up if its windy. However - the more you turn down into a reach your chances of a pitchpole go up. If you are trying to fly a hull on a reach in bigger air make sure you and your crew have your weight close to the back. Once that front bow goes under it only takes a second to send you flying through the air!

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Ben Wells - Hobie 16

For sure, on a reach in heavy wind, a huge portion of my attention goes to that leeward bow! I aim to keep it a few inches above the waterline. Once it digs under, stuff happens really fast. Invariably bad stuff.

"Invariably bad stuff"

Pitchpoling aint the end of the world, ive done it tons of times and it's usually not a big deal. You get wet and have to right the boat, no big whoop. Occasionally I need a new shock cord afterwards for the trap bit that's been the most damage I've ever had, to date, knock on wood!

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Blair T

I love these calm moments before the storm, it reminds me of Beethoven...


'02 Hobie Tiger USA 1152

once you can learn how to use the tiller to point and fall off the wind . It makes it easier than sheeting in and out constantly. you need to get your sail trimmed and once you have some speed up you can fall off until you are on more of a reach and as you start to fly a hull higher you can point up to control your heel by steering up and down to the wind

Ah, then consider yourself lucky. A good pitchpole, with crew on the trapeze, can be a pain in the nutz. Crew on trap flies forward, resembling a spider on a string. This digs the bows in deeper, which accelerates the process. The spider at the end of the string must eventually come to rest somewhere. In one notable case, it was b*lls first into the forestay. Not mine, thank goodness, but their owner was not pleased at all. We weren't racing at the time, and boat didn't go completely head-over-heels... but it was a sullen ride to shore and a painful one for the crew.