You gave me a good laugh with your description of back-rolling when the hooter furler line snapped!

I went the other route: Had plenty of water ahead of me, so took a (solo) swim up to the furler to fix the tangles. What a strange experinece it was to look back at my Hobie 18 from the front of the 15' long spinnaker pole, after having doused the jib and the main sails. I was being pushed through the water at maybe about 2-3 knots (backwards), in the middle of the ocean, some 'several' miles off-shore and about 13 miles from my home port.

I've gone to a deck launching system now, even though I use a head sail that is smaller (per capita) than a Hooter. That furler up there seems like 'an accident waiting to happen,' to me.

Are my experiences unusual? Please let me know.

One thing that I will say for Rick and the rest of you who are Hootering... It is fast, quick, and very, very nice to have when you are going slightly upwind, in very light wind conditions. For beam-reaching in 0.5 knots of wind , .. on up to about 4 knots of wind, the Hooter is the best thing around; better than an outboard motor.

Downwind, well let's just say that it is a Hoot!!

GARY