My New (To Me) Boat

[Byrdman]

So far I have taken sailing lessons at St Pete Yacht Club and then I found this cat on CL in pretty decent shape.

So far I have replaced some of the shrouds and lines, patched up all the sails, and sailed it 3 times. The last time was last weekend where the winds were gusting up to 30mph when the storms/cold front came through. That was quite a handful and it took me forever to get in, lol!!

I realize this is not the same as a cruising yacht, but at least it is a start and I'm trying to learn all I can about sailing.

Anyway, I have officially started on my 5 year plan to get on the water full time!! The next step is a 30'-35' I can cruise around FL.

[thomm225]

Hobie 16's are great boats to learn sailing on.

I had two of them, then a Nacra 6.0, and then a Nacra F-17 and raced them all.

The Hobie 16 is raced all over the world. Racing fine tunes your sailing skills

135,000 Hobie 16's have been built and sold as of 2013. They can hit speeds of about 25 knots on a reach. Replacement sails and parts are available almost anywhere

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3852

Check out how low the booms are on these Hobie 16's racing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO0LkUDALNk

[s/v Moondancer]

Welcome, I started on a Hobie 16 and 30 years later, after a Pacific crossing, I am on a 55 in New Zealand.

It is just one step further on a regular basis until you go from the 16 to crossing oceans.

Good luck and when we get back to our home in Miami we can sail together!

[Joel E Felt]

Welcome to CF. And like the others I to started on a cat (6 m G-cat). 30 yrs later learning on a 25 ft. And soon a nice cruiser. Perhaps Ill see you down in FLA also.


Good Luck and good sailing.


Joel

[Byrdman]

Thanks for all the encouragement!! I look forward to learning as much as I can and then joining the ranks when the time comes!!

Thanks again!

[Typhoon]

Excellent boat !

I had a Hobie 16 many years ago and really enjoyed it , watch that lee hull , keep her nose out of the water . If you capsize her and you have crew with you , have them sit on your shoulders and then both of you lean back with the jib sheet, you may have better luck uprighting the boat that way .

Enjoy

Regards John Tully

[redhead]

Originally Posted by Byrdman

Thanks for all the encouragement!! I look forward to learning as much as I can and then joining the ranks when the time comes!!

Thanks again!

(Pssst - you already joined our ranks - you love boats and sailing - looking forward to your posts!)

[basssears]

Perfect choice for first boat, those things are fun as all get out (it's where my wife and I started), easy to manage (no centerboards, kick up rudders) and - very importantly if you're planning to move up eventually - you will learn WAY more about moving under sail on that boat much quicker than you would on a bigger boat.

A few tips from my rusty memories of fun and thrashing on our H16:
1) As mentioned above, yes side to side balance is important but on these relatively low buoyancy hulls fore-aft balance is very important... too far forward and you bury the bows and capsize, too far backward and you do this trippy little pirouette on the sterns... and capsize.
2) The rudders are pretty good for this size boat so be gentle with your course corrections, especially in lighter winds... these are great light air boats (you can get home on a whisper if the wind dies on you) but they don't have a lot of momentum, so if you crank the rudders hard over you run the risk of just coming to a stop instead of gliding through a tack.
3) Learn how to backwind your jib to stop from getting stuck in irons when tacking in lighter (or really heavy) conditions.
4) It looks like from your pictures you have a single reef set up in your main sail, if so well done, we never did (didn't really know any better) and knowing what I know now I wish we had... we never had much luck sailing main only so when the wind piped up it would have been nice to have jib and reefed main.
5) Oh yeah, remember to put the drain plugs in before launching

Have fun!

-- Bass

[Byrdman]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Even though I have only gone out 3 times, I have learned something each time. Last Saturday with the cold front coming through, I learned 30mph with gusts are too much for my level of experience for now.

I did reef it two of the times I went out. The first time I took it out, and last weekend. Both times I only used the mainsail, and it was super difficult to tack without the jib.

Bass, I will be learning to backwind the jib because in higher winds and choppy water, I failed every time but once with only the mainsail. The one time it did work, the wind direction seemed to shift while going through the tack(luckily). Most of the times I had to jibe and it was fast and pretty stressful.

Hopefully I can get out this weekend!!

Byrdman

[baycruiser]

Just by the way sailing is easy seamanship is hard experience you may think you are ready when you learn to sail but seamanship that is qiute different and where lots of people give up but yes you have started well and good luck and dont give up and learn to enjoy it alone ...john

[LeGe]

Originally Posted by Byrdman

Thanks for all the suggestions! Even though I have only gone out 3 times, I have learned something each time. Last Saturday with the cold front coming through, I learned 30mph with gusts are too much for my level of experience for now.

I did reef it two of the times I went out. The first time I took it out, and last weekend. Both times I only used the mainsail, and it was super difficult to tack without the jib.

Bass, I will be learning to backwind the jib because in higher winds and choppy water, I failed every time but once with only the mainsail. The one time it did work, the wind direction seemed to shift while going through the tack(luckily). Most of the times I had to jibe and it was fast and pretty stressful.

Hopefully I can get out this weekend!!

Byrdman

I learned to sail on a Hobie 14, which didn't have a jib. The trick to tacking without getting caught in the irons on such a light boat (especially if you don't have a jib) is to stay as far back as possible on the trampoline and only move over to the "new" windward side at the last minute. This way your weight provides a pivot point to turn around and you get through the wind quickly.

BUT, it is pretty critical not to stay there once you've gone through the wind. If you do, you will capsize. The difference between a smart tack and a capsize is measured in fractions of a second... Also do not pussy foot around with the tiller. Once you decide to tack, push that baby all the way over immediately and keep it there till you jump across to the other side.

It's not hard, it takes a little practice but the Hobie is such a sweet, responsive vessel that you will quickly start feeling part of her. I sailed my little Hobie for about 8 years and only capsized once.

In light air I still sometimes had to do a 3 point turn to get through the wind: Once caught in the irons, push your boom into the wind, backing your main, keep your rudders straight, wait until you have a reasonable amount of way and then smartly push/pull your tiller so you swing your transoms opposite of the direction you want to sail, let go of your boom and bam, you're on your way.

I used to say that sailing a Hobie is like driving a Formula 1 racing car. Everything happens instantly and at high speed. Wonderful!

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by redhead

(Pssst - you already joined our ranks - you love boats and sailing - looking forward to your posts!)

Redhead is right!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by LeGe

I learned to sail on a Hobie 14, which didn't have a jib. The trick to tacking without getting caught in the irons on such a light boat (especially if you don't have a jib) is to stay as far back as possible on the trampoline and only move over to the "new" windward side at the last minute. This way your weight provides a pivot point to turn around and you get through the wind quickly.

BUT, it is pretty critical not to stay there once you've gone through the wind. If you do, you will capsize. The difference between a smart tack and a capsize is measured in fractions of a second... Also do not pussy foot around with the tiller. Once you decide to tack, push that baby all the way over immediately and keep it there till you jump across to the other side.

It's not hard, it takes a little practice but the Hobie is such a sweet, responsive vessel that you will quickly start feeling part of her. I sailed my little Hobie for about 8 years and only capsized once.

In light air I still sometimes had to do a 3 point turn to get through the wind: Once caught in the irons, push your boom into the wind, backing your main, keep your rudders straight, wait until you have a reasonable amount of way and then smartly push/pull your tiller so you swing your transoms opposite of the direction you want to sail, let go of your boom and bam, you're on your way.

I used to say that sailing a Hobie is like driving a Formula 1 racing car. Everything happens instantly and at high speed. Wonderful!

And don't forget if caught in irons, you can always backup a bit and turn the bows across the wind, then go forward.

As far as a Hobie 16 being a race car, it's quite the jalopy these days with the F series beach cats which can point 20 degrees are more closer to the wind that the 16 and has a spinnaker and the A class boats

Hobie 16 though is the right starter beachcat.

F-16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqFzPoaDQ4g

F-17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pehYM0RfyyU

Another good Hobie 16 video. And again, check the boom height that they are at these days. Racers anyway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VC4QNSfcGk

[CaptRory]

When I decided I wanted to learn to sail, a friend had a Thistle for sale, so I told him I wanted to buy it. He said "you can't start on a Thistle, they take a lot of finesse...get a Hobie Cat...they're fun, colorful and women love them." He was right. I joined a fleet and raced all over the SE. And women do love them, it was a great first date! It doesn't cost anything, you will show her a great time AND you get to see them in a bathing suit before you decide if you want a second. That was 40 years and 2 wives and 3 boats ago.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CaptRory

When I decided I wanted to learn to sail, a friend had a Thistle for sale, so I told him I wanted to buy it. He said "you can't start on a Thistle, they take a lot of finesse...get a Hobie Cat...they're fun, colorful and women love them." He was right. I joined a fleet and raced all over the SE. And women do love them, it was a great first date! It doesn't cost anything, you will show her a great time AND you get to see them in a bathing suit before you decide if you want a second. That was 40 years and 2 wives and 3 boats ago.

You hit the nail on the head................40 years ago.

The beach cat scene these days is nowhere near the thing you remember