Hobie Forums :: View topic - BEST HOBIE 16 STORY

Here is my best Hobie 16 story:
Nov 10 1975…Lake Erie near Buffalo: Three of us college aged males donned the wet suits and took my 1972 Hobie 16 out from the small boat marina off of Tift Street. The wind was howling and we were crazy enough to give it a try. Waves were slamming over the break-wall, the spray off the top of the waves outside the break-wall was blowing horizontal and the low clouds were thick and grey. Upon jumping aboard, we shot out of the marina toward the gap in the break-wall. Two on the wires and me seated at the helm. I’ve never gone so fast on a sail boat, rarely that fast in a stink boat. We hit the open waters and accelerated a bit more while getting a lot of air jumping 20+ foot high wave after wave. We pitch-poled several times and made like a submarine as often as we made like a kite. We were having a blast and apparently attracted some attention…from the local coast guard station. After about ½ hour we were freezing. Exhausted and ready to come back in and give it a try on the clam side of the wall, we came about, headed for the gap and noticed flashing emergency lights near where we had parked the cars.
Not to be deterred, we thought that there must be something going on at the closed marina and nothing more. We proceeded to bomb back and forth across the open water just inside the break-wall for about another 20 minutes until there was something about the lights that made us consider going back. As we got closer to the ramp we could make out a Buffalo police car and a US Coast Guard truck parked at the ramp and began to hear some megaphone noise over the howling wind. We came all the way in and were immediately asked “Didn’t you hear us?” followed by “There’s a big storm coming in, you guys have to get out of the water NOW.”
We complied and thought nothing more of it, just gald we didn’t make the cops mad or get a ticket or anything like that. The next morning we really found out what all the fuss was over… on Nov 10 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart in a Great Lakes storm on Lake Superior…all 29 crew were lost. Hurricane force winds and 35 foot plus waves were reported during that storm as it raged across the lakes and although we didn’t experience the brunt of it we did get to ride on the “Witch of November”
Couldn't have done it with any other boat.

Author:	faceplant2012 [ Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:	BEST HOBIE 16 STORY
I went to sail out of Davis Island, Tampa and stopped to get a hoagie for the ride at a restaurant on the island. I was waiting for my sandwich, when the guy next to me said, hey, "is that your 16?". yeah. He said I got a Hobie story you wont believe. Here goes: He was sailing on a lake near Orlando and a squall\mini tornado came over. He was sailing before the wind with a jib all the way out. the hobie accelerated hard and then as he got situated just in time to feel the whole thing lift off the water, both hulls! he dumped but didnt tip until landing for 20 yards later. he swears to it. Something about his demeanor makes me believe him. Had to share this. Later that day I had my own story to tell. We sailed out to the cruise ship channel and stopped on a spoil isle wear a cruise ship's wake rolled up the beach and lifted my rudders high enough to drop them down again and snap one off. The wind came around to the north so it was going to be a hard fight upwind anyway in 3-4 foot seas, but with one rudder she just wouldnt go upwind. Downwind ended up as a stupid long circle back to irons. After wrapping myself and my girlfriend in the sail for warmth, we watched ourselves drift south towards the power plant. bad. Leslie, another Hobie sailor knew we should have come back within an hour of his arrival so he called TPD. The helicopter spotted me waving a broken rudder and then the Sheriffs Scarab came and dragged us home. Hobie16 blue sails. M&M white letters. See ya out there

Author:	pyroboy08 [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: BEST HOBIE 16 STORY
A sail is essentially a wing, which produces lift by Bernoulli's principle. Every sailboat has a "wing" which is just turned sideways to produce forward thrust instead of upward lift, and the H16 has a rather large "wing". In theory, if the boat was just about on its side, and the wind hit it just right, it could momentarily create enough upward lift to make the rise out of the water. Flying a sailboat would be like trying to fly a poorly designed glider that had one wing removed, so it would be nearly impossible to sustain flight, if you want to call it that, for more than a moment. Only a one in a million dose of blind luck in perfect conditions would allow the H16 to glide 20 yards.

Author:	Tim H16 [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:54 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: BEST HOBIE 16 STORY
Back in December 1996, Bill Mattson wrote a funny article in the magazine: "ON THE WIRE", entitled: "World's Fastest Hobie 16, JATO Units: Feeling the Need for Speed". http://www.thebeachcats.com/OnTheWire/westnet/_lpm/hobie/archives/v1-i4/humor2.htm

Author:	FlyNavy [ Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: BEST HOBIE 16 STORY
Here is my best Hobie 16 story: Nov 10 1975…Lake Erie near Buffalo: Three of us college aged males donned the wet suits and took my 1972 Hobie 16 out from the small boat marina off of Tift Street. The wind was howling and we were crazy enough to give it a try. Waves were slamming over the break-wall, the spray off the top of the waves outside the break-wall was blowing horizontal and the low clouds were thick and grey. Upon jumping aboard, we shot out of the marina toward the gap in the break-wall. Two on the wires and me seated at the helm. I’ve never gone so fast on a sail boat, rarely that fast in a stink boat. We hit the open waters and accelerated a bit more while getting a lot of air jumping 20+ foot high wave after wave. We pitch-poled several times and made like a submarine as often as we made like a kite. We were having a blast and apparently attracted some attention…from the local coast guard station. After about ½ hour we were freezing. Exhausted and ready to come back in and give it a try on the clam side of the wall, we came about, headed for the gap and noticed flashing emergency lights near where we had parked the cars. Not to be deterred, we thought that there must be something going on at the closed marina and nothing more. We proceeded to bomb back and forth across the open water just inside the break-wall for about another 20 minutes until there was something about the lights that made us consider going back. As we got closer to the ramp we could make out a Buffalo police car and a US Coast Guard truck parked at the ramp and began to hear some megaphone noise over the howling wind. We came all the way in and were immediately asked “Didn’t you hear us?” followed by “There’s a big storm coming in, you guys have to get out of the water NOW.” We complied and thought nothing more of it, just gald we didn’t make the cops mad or get a ticket or anything like that. The next morning we really found out what all the fuss was over… on Nov 10 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart in a Great Lakes storm on Lake Superior…all 29 crew were lost. Hurricane force winds and 35 foot plus waves were reported during that storm as it raged across the lakes and although we didn’t experience the brunt of it we did get to ride on the “Witch of November” Couldn't have done it with any other boat.

Author:	AlaskaMatt [ Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: BEST HOBIE 16 STORY
FlyNavy wrote: Here is my best Hobie 16 story: Nov 10 1975…Lake Erie near Buffalo: Three of us college aged males donned the wet suits and took my 1972 Hobie 16 out from the small boat marina off of Tift Street. The wind was howling and we were crazy enough to give it a try. Waves were slamming over the break-wall, the spray off the top of the waves outside the break-wall was blowing horizontal and the low clouds were thick and grey. Upon jumping aboard, we shot out of the marina toward the gap in the break-wall. Two on the wires and me seated at the helm. I’ve never gone so fast on a sail boat, rarely that fast in a stink boat. We hit the open waters and accelerated a bit more while getting a lot of air jumping 20+ foot high wave after wave. We pitch-poled several times and made like a submarine as often as we made like a kite. We were having a blast and apparently attracted some attention…from the local coast guard station. After about ½ hour we were freezing. Exhausted and ready to come back in and give it a try on the clam side of the wall, we came about, headed for the gap and noticed flashing emergency lights near where we had parked the cars. Not to be deterred, we thought that there must be something going on at the closed marina and nothing more. We proceeded to bomb back and forth across the open water just inside the break-wall for about another 20 minutes until there was something about the lights that made us consider going back. As we got closer to the ramp we could make out a Buffalo police car and a US Coast Guard truck parked at the ramp and began to hear some megaphone noise over the howling wind. We came all the way in and were immediately asked “Didn’t you hear us?” followed by “There’s a big storm coming in, you guys have to get out of the water NOW.” We complied and thought nothing more of it, just gald we didn’t make the cops mad or get a ticket or anything like that. The next morning we really found out what all the fuss was over… on Nov 10 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart in a Great Lakes storm on Lake Superior…all 29 crew were lost. Hurricane force winds and 35 foot plus waves were reported during that storm as it raged across the lakes and although we didn’t experience the brunt of it we did get to ride on the “Witch of November” Couldn't have done it with any other boat. That is a GREAT story. Made my night.

Hobie Forums http://www.hobie.com/forums/

BEST HOBIE 16 STORY http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=41622	Page 1 of 1

Page 1 of 1	All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/