Hi



On the weekend there was finaly wind say about 15knots which is alot for canberra and i went for a sail by my self (main and jib) and since i only weight 68kg and im 16 of course the boat wanted to lift and it did heaps but i recovered them and didn't go over once. I came in after 3hours of sailing with no water in the hulls then i lent my older brother who's 26 and well he forgot the bungs and he sailed for about half an hour and luckly i taught him how to sail the boat better than he did by trapezing as far forward as possible with out nose diving. Why on shore i noticed the bungs and i was thinking "what the" and well i race to a power boat and went straight to him and gave him the bungs and sailed it straight in and got rid of the water. I was wondering what other things should i do?



The other thing is while i was sailing i was realy nervous to tip it over because of my body weight. I started to think of ideas but i only came up with a few.

1: Get an A-calss

2: Go hobie 14turbo

3: get one of those bags you fll up with water (not a good one)

4: Get a taipan



Out of those I loved the idea of the taipan but I think since there are only hobies there i think i might of got payed out. The other boat i liked was the hobie 14turbo but since the hobie 16 cant catch hobie 18's and the 20's i dont think the 14 will do to well. If any one can help with their thoughts that would be very helpfull thats alot bye.



Jules

Hi,



I can't offer any advice RE water in the hulls (our [very old] hulls leak like crazy on some days and I can't figure out where the water's getting in--but it doesn't seem to do any additional harm--we do fresh-water sailing only; I don't know if salt water would be more of a problem).



With regard to righting the boat, however, my weight is similar to yours. I've dumped several times when I was alone this year on our H14 (non-turbo). The only times it's been a problem for me to get it back up (when pulling on a line on the mast--see below) is when the sail's way down in the water (once well stuck in the mud in the drought-enhanced shallow lake--grrr), I just can't get enough leverage to get the thing back up. I'm quite sure the canvas bucket idea would have worked fine, but if the masthead were given just a touch of bouyancy, I'm sure that would do it too. You can buy masthead floats from Hobie, but I've also heard that a tetherball attached to the halyard sheeve works great too (haven't tried it myself and naturally, if you're racing, it's not going to be legal but you'd have crew in a race anyhow, right?).



What I'd suggest is that as the weather warms up and the water's warmer for you there Down Unde', you get someone to come out with you (your brother in the powerboat you mentioned?) and tip it over on purpose and see how you do.



One other thing I've found that makes a big difference is tugging on the right thing: something attached to the mast (e.g. for you an extra line clipped on just above the trapeeze handle works MUCH better than a righting rope hooked around the hull pylons under the tramp. I've had pretty good luck with a line we attach just for the purpose (since we have no trap rig). What I do is actually run it around behind my back and hold it with the free-end hand--don't tie yourself in!--but it allows you to lean way back and get the best leverage your small body can provide.



Maybe one or both of these suggestions will help--and, of course, there's plenty more experienced sailors than I reading this forum--right, folks?



Just BTW (a war story), I crewed for a guy on an H16 in an informal regatta last Saturday and he kept cleating the mainsheet while I was out on the trap. MOST of the time, he was able to uncleat in time but we went over a couple of times (the boat went turtle both times--one advantage to our shallower, regular sailing spot--all you have to do is clean the mud out of the sheeve when you sail in Utah Lake). At any rate, I was surprised at how long we both had to tug on the lines to get the thing righted. It has occurred to me that I might have been able to get my boat over by myself if I'd been more patient about hanging out there and waiting for the sail to slowly come up. I did decide that righting in higher wind has its own hazards: I've got a truly spectacular bruise on my right forearm where the boat landed on me once--I don't know if that's the time it immediately flipped over before we could get back on or not!



Best of luck!



John

(A fellow light-weight!)

I'm 185 lbs and I still get a little nervous about righting my H16 if it gets rough. I just bought a float and a water bag which seems to work OK for me, but I've also thought about buying a Soloright righting system. I've included a link. It works by moving your weight farther off the boat, effectively making you heavier. Maybe someone else in the forum has experience with how well these work, but it looks like it might be a good investment if you want to push the envelope a lot.



http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/soloright.html

I have three Solo-rights, one I used on my Hobie 21 (that I no longer own) and one for my Hobie 16. It’s the best system I have ever used. I tried Rick White's system, which is a great system, but the Solo-right worked even better on the Hobie 16 plus it requires no drilling to install it on your boat like the Rick White system does. I have capsized 6 times (on purpose) during one sail for the fun of it just so I could use the solo-right, as it was so much fun to use, and so easy to use. So that is my experience with the system. Plus with this system I did not need to install a mast float or use the righting bag.

Whats involved in the gary system? Is it a pole? Is it a rope? His website doesn't give a good indication of whats included in his kit.

It's as if he's not anxious to reveal too much about how it works. On the other hand, the pictures show him standing on a pole sticking out perpendicular to the bottom of the boat, don't they.



It seems like it's got to be some kind of pole gizmo, but I decided he must be trying to discourage imitators by not putting a diagram or picture that shows how it works.

It’s a long pole you stand on. Basically a long paddle with several ropes, etc., works surprisingly well. Sounds simple but he has put a lot of work into it to make sure its strong and made it like a paddle so when you are not using it and the wind dies you can use it as a paddle.

Alright, I just didn't want to go ahead and buy one not knowing whats involved.

Hello,

Gary's solo-right is made from a high quality oar handle and is wrapped with carbon fiber to add more strength. On a Hobie 16, it hooks on the lip of the lower hull and is held in place with ropes. You walk out on the pole while balancing yourself with your righting line. On boats with centerboards, the pole attaches in the centerboard trunk.

Last week, a 138 lbs lady righted his Mystre 6.0 without any difficulties.

Jack Hoying

Prindle 18

Fort Loramie, Ohio

Eww, I don' t think I like the centerboard trunk idea.



on h17's I've known of to many that have blown out just due to normal wear and tear.

MauganH17 I think that could be a potential problem even though I have heard nothing but good comments by those with cats with centerboards. I can not speak for them as I use mine on my H16 only and do not own a boat with centerboards.

But what would you say is the minimal weight to right a hobie 16 is.

If you have any questions about the Solo-Rite, Gary's webpage is at http://www.geocities.com/hobiegary/soloright.html

I would think that a 130 lbs person could right it with a solo rite. I see that he is selling a kit for now. You supply the oar or pole.

Jack Hoying

P18

Fort Loramie, Ohio

The bag would be the only class-legal righting device for use during a race, correct?