Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:40 am

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: First Sails on my new T2
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:41 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:04 pm
Posts: 80
Hi All,
Not a ton of activity on this forum, so I thought I'd make a post. The weather has finally warmed enough that I put my new T2 down on the beach this weekend. The water is still a chilly ~40F so I haven't risked capsizing yet. I put the boat in Saturday at a public beach on Lake Superior about 2 miles down the beach from home (our lot is too heavily wooded to get the assembled cat in/out). Unfortunately the wind on Saturday was pretty light at ~5 knots, and just before I got home dropped to 1 knot. So I didn't get the best feel for the boat.

Here are some pictures of the boat and my first sail:
http://imgur.com/a/M1au9

I have 4 summers of small boat sailing under my belt, with the last 3 on an early 70's Hobie 14 that was in pretty poor condition. Here are my thoughts so far on the T2:
Rigging went smooth, and the mast is easy enough to lift with one person on the tramp and another to start lifting it and pin the jib/forestay. I can get beach wheels under it and move it around on relatively flat beach myself, but taking it up an incline requires 2+ people (or I have an ATV winch setup as the beach at home is very steep thanks to some erosion and high lake levels). Note, I'm a 150lb 35y/o guy in decent shape. I absolutely love the new rudder system and traveler compared to my old 14! Such a world of difference! I will probably upgrade the sail bag at some point as it already has a few small holes in it (I think from the battens, or maybe it caught on something on the cross bar as I was pulling it over the rolled up sail? The snorkel seems fine, but will likely be the first thing that will need replacing since I will be storing the boat mast up all summer. I'm guessing I'll get a few seasons out of it at least though, and that's a small price for mast up storage and a roller furler.

Sunday we had a north wind and the lake was choppy and full of white caps so I didn't go out as I'm too chicken to capsize by myself with the 40 degree water. This morning was a different story though. We had 10-15 knots coming off the shore which leaves the water smooth. I went out solo and the boat was a pleasure! It's very stable, and could have easily flown a hull. I hiked out a bit and had the hull mostly out of the water a number of times, but again didn't push it. I do want to practice capsize/recovery before I really push this boat. My area has very little boat traffic, and I didn't see anyone or hear a peep on my handheld VHF this morning.

I'm really looking forward to getting out with a crew, practicing capsize recovery and learning to trap out on this boat. It is going to be a great summer!

edit: I should also note that in 10-15 knot winds I was cruising at about 8 knots, regularly went over 10 knots and hit 12 knots at the top end (according to my GPS watch). I could have sheeted in and had some more speed I'm sure. :)

_________________
2014 T2
past: 1974 H14


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 11:54 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am
Posts: 66
Location: Erie on Lake Erie, PA
Very nice T2 Pics from the cold white north! Water temps are up to 58-60 on the PA Lake Erie coast, so I will be trying out a new T2 in a week or two.
Did you remove the mast pin (as recommended in the manual) before sailing - in one of the pics it looks like it's still inserted? On-the-grass set-ups I've done here, the pin doesn't seem to affect mast rotation - so I wonder about the (great?) benefit of pin-in if the boat happened to totally turtle because then the mast won't fall off and hang below the boat by the shrouds!
I have done three on-grass rigs/de-rigs this past few weekends, which will be handy for solo sailing - I clip an extension to the main halyard which, when attached to a small wire bridle at the furler, holds the mast vertical while I attach the forestay to the furler. So far I've been setting the shrouds to the fifth hole-down on the shroud adjusters and the rake looks good.
Keep us posted!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2016 7:55 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:04 pm
Posts: 80
I left the pin in. I read on the getaway forums that someone from hobie preferred that to prevent dismasting. It doesn't seem to get in the way at all, but I suppose there is some minimal risk of damage in a crash. I'd rather risk it than risk dismasting though. Have fun when you get out there. Thunderstorms the rest of the week here, so probably won't get out until the weekend again.

Edit: here's the thread, last comment from matt. http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=44751

_________________
2014 T2
past: 1974 H14


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2016 7:45 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am
Posts: 66
Location: Erie on Lake Erie, PA
First sail of the season on the T2. Water 68F, air 78F, winds less than 5 knots.
T2 is noticeably better at low wind speeds than the Wave - obviously: almost double the sail area and a few extra feet of waterline.
Longer to rig though, but 3 years of Wave rigging really shortened my Wave-rigging time.
More buoyancy is good for heavier sailors.
Still undecided on keeping the mast-base pin in or out as concerned that even a regular capsize may allow the mast to pop off the ball if the pin is not in place.
Wave and Getaway say "pin-in" while T2 says "pin-out." = dilemma! But no adverse effects from pin-in yesterday, with low wind speeds.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 11:18 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:04 pm
Posts: 80
I was out with my wife this weekend. We had 10 knot winds coming from shore gusting to 18. sailed 3 miles along the coast and back (6 total). Had the windward hull out of the water very briefly. I was attempting to go as fast as possible without flying a hull and was pretty successful by sailing closer to the wind during gusts. Another sail we had a bit more wind and furled the jib. This cut the power of the boat down nicely. Tacking is obviously more difficult sans jib, but with 3 years on the 14 sans jib I didn't have much of an issue. I think in the next couple of weeks we'll tip it over in the shallows and see how hard it is to right, then work on getting a hull in the air. Pin has been kept in still, and no adverse affects.

_________________
2014 T2
past: 1974 H14


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 4:34 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am
Posts: 66
Location: Erie on Lake Erie, PA
Same story, more or less, on southern Lake Erie this weekend. 70F water, 80F air. Good wind at 10-12 knots where T2 is much faster than the Wave. More challenging to keep flat, which is good! I think the ratchet on the center wheel of the block may slow the sheet flow thru the block in a gust - I don't see a way to turn it off?
Also, I may need to adjust my mainsheet block/cleat angle as the sheet now slips very easily into the cleat (lock position): there's an allen-bolt axis to the block and I'm wondering if loosening that will (i) allow me to reduce the angle or (ii) allow the block to totally fall apart and ballbearings end up on the floor!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 5:39 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am
Posts: 66
Location: Erie on Lake Erie, PA
Found the cleat-angle adjustment method on p17 of the Getaway manual - problem solved I think!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:32 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:04 pm
Posts: 80
I haven't had any issues with my main cleat/block. But my wife was having issues with the jib, especially when we're close hauled. She couldn't get it to uncleat and/or stay uncleated without me depowering so she could move really close to the cleat. Have you had that isssue? Now that you mention adjustments on the main I'm wondering what I can do on the jib. I could tell when we're close hauled the cleat was very much parallel to the tramp instead of angled up like when we were on a reach.

edit: i'm wondering if the dealer has them on upside down? Should you lift the jib sheet out of the cleat, or pull it down out of the cleat? Right now it's setup to pull down out of the cleat which doesn't work when you're hike out because you can't get the angle with the tramp/hull in the way to pull down far enough.

edit again: page 27 of the T2 manual shows that you should have to pull down to release the jib sheet from the cleat, but it looks like there's a pin to adjust the angle of the cleat. I went out and quick since it was lunch time (work from home) and checked. Sure enough both jib cleats were set to the worst angle for uncleating. I moved them to the mid position and will try that out. There's one more position but I don't want to make it impossible to cleat the jib hiked out.

_________________
2014 T2
past: 1974 H14


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:33 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:33 am
Posts: 66
Location: Erie on Lake Erie, PA
Yep, the jib cleat is pull down to set it free, just like the main. Having previously had a Wave, I like the back-winding easier-tacking benefit of having a jib! And you're correct on it being adjustable with a 3?-hole pin adjuster. So far that's working fine for me (the pin is in one of the end holes). I think the secret is to give the line a good solid flick when sailing solo and that frees it from the cleat - pulling the line keeps it in the cleat at the present setting - but if it gets tricky in higher winds, I'll try moving the pin to the middle position.

Only other issue I'm noticing is that I have to stand way forward of the boat to seat the main halyard properly - if I stand close, the wire/line copper "joint" or swage wants to get stuck when crossing through the "tunnel" above the first of the two sheave wheels at the mast-top - maybe I just need to practice more on that!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 12:29 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:04 pm
Posts: 80
I was having issues with the main halyard at the very top too. I found if it gets stuck up there, or if it doesn't go through easy, drop it a foot and pull again (straight down in front of the boat). if it has a little momentum it seems to skip over that wheel without an issue for me.

_________________
2014 T2
past: 1974 H14


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
© Hobie Cat Company. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group