Or...at the VERY least...be class legal.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble here but when 3 persons can not right a TheMightyHobie18 togther than I don't expect them to understand how to operate a righting pole.

Nothing is FOOL proof remember ?

Wouter

Wouter,
I'm not talking about a righting pole. At this point I think I am talking about something else you are not aware of that has been on beach cats for 25 years.
Bill

Can you describe the basics of the "ARC righting system" you mentioned? You've got me curious.

Thanks,
Todd, TheMightyHobie18 MN

It's really simple. All you do is pull a fast-pin on the sidestay adjuster to release the sidestay. There is a much smaller flexible wire attached from the adjuster to the end of the sidestay. This wire then extends the sidestay, which enables the weight of the hull to (increase and) be used as part of the righting moment to right the boat. (Moment = Force X Distance from the neutral axis) A righting pole increases the distance using the same force (you), this system increases the force (adding the hull weight) with a slight increase in distance. Once righted, you just put the sidestay pin back in place. The adjuster has a lever to enable the tighening of the stay after you pin it back in its original position. This is a great system, and adds minimal weight to the boat. I highly recommend it.

Don

ARC22 #2226

Tod,
Allow me to add to Don's description of the shroud extention system: The base of the mast must be secured to its perch on the cross bar or else you would dismast the boat by slackening the shrouds.

Don, can you right the ARC22 by yourself? There is one 145# man on this forum who claims he rights his SC20 by himself.

GARY

In that case it must be a shroud extender. Still I wouldn't place high bets on those people knowing how to use that system either.

Aren't a real sceptical (if not cynical) unsympathetic person today ?

I'm noticing it even myself. And THAT says alot.

Definately not my day today.

Wouter

Gary,
The base of the mast should also be secured to the perch on the main beam while raising and lowereing the mast. So, this safety attachment serves many purposes. I have seen other brands of catamaran without this safety feature injure people while raising and lowering the mast, mast base into the face. Once I saw the top of a mast go into the windshield of a parked car while a beach cat sailor was attempting to raise the mast and the base slipped out of control and the top came down into the windshield of a car parked behind.
Bill

My mast base has a captive pin that you use to raise and lower the mast. But you take it out once you're on the water so in case of a dismasting less damage is done. I've seen firsthand what happens when you leave the pin in and the mast comes down... (first broken mast)

Gary,

You're absolutely right. The base of the mast is pinned. Yes, that could cause a real problem if it wasn't. Good catch. I guess that it is easy to forget about it in the description. You pin it when you step the mast, and forget about it. It is a nice system.

I haven't tried righting the boat by myself. Maybe next time. My crew and I have enough weight to right it with no problem. -- 440# combined, that might even right an RC30. What do you think Bill?

Don

There are basically two types of shroud extender (righting) systems.

The bigger boats, or boats with very tight shrouds, usually use Hyfield Levers in place of, sometimes in addition to, the normal shroud adjusters.
Smaller boats or boats with loose rigs can often get by with a simple cable shroud extender.
In order to use either system, the crew must be able to reach the shroud attachment and pull a pin.
This may involve climbing on the elevated hull or installing an access hole in the tramp.

Pictures and diagrams of these and other righting systems can be found in the Hobiecat catalog on page 18.
Or http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/18_19.pdf

Hello Maugan17,
You have not seen the SC mast base and pin. With the pin in place the mast base can act as a hinge for raising and lowering the mast. When the mast is vertical, it is free to rotate with the pin still in place. The SC mast base and pin act like a universal joint, free to flex, rotate, swivel in any direction, but at the same time it will not allow the mast base to come off the ball. It is slick trick, 1978 technology!
Bill
Bill

Cookie Monster,
I've got another trick for righting the RC30 and it does not require shroud levers. I'll tell you about it sometime.
By the way, those shroud levers on your boat are a go fast device also. In very light winds and going downwind usually the mast rotation is limited by a tight leward shroud. The leeward side of the mast runs into the leeward shroud and this limits you to about half as much mast rotation as you would like to have. Open the leeward shroud lever and the leeward shroud goes slack and the mast cranks right on around parallel to the beam or even more. Now the mainsail and mast take on a much more desireable airfoil shape and you can actually feel the boat accelerate in light winds. Tighten the leeward shroud before jibing.
Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the advice. We'll certainly give it a try. By the way, we're having a ball with the ARC22. Hope to see you in Ft. Walton for 'Round the Island in September.

Don

so this dude stayed all night with a couple of hot babes and they had to cuddle to stay warm and uh who had a problem here except the media got involved and rescue folks who had better things to do.... maybe they shoulda had a little less conspicuous plan...

broberts: my H17 mast base provides the same functionality.

What I'm saying is that if I'm on the water and my mast for some reason comes down, I DON'T want it staying on the ball, because it would only cause more damage if it remained attached. This is why I pull the pin out so its free to come off (if the shrouds didn't keep it down)

That was kind of hard to avoid, since the people involved ARE the media.

First off, it really annoys me that these numbskulls got 15 minutes of fame from this. Just another "catamarans are dangerous" story to add to the public's view of the boats. For this reason alone these people should be smacked hard on the head.

Second - if the shroud extender requires the mast to be pinned to keep it from falling off the step, you can't use it on the 18. The 18 has a really stupid design to the mast base - there's a "hinge plate" on the bottom of the mast that hinges/swings from the mast. The pin locks the plate to the mast step on the boat - with the pin in place the mast can't rotate. Even if you did leave it in, the mast could still "hinge" away and break the plate, putting you in the same situation of not having the pin in, except with broken parts.

!! rant mode on !! Afterthought to #2 point - why the hell hasn't Hobie gotten rid of this stupid design? It's the only boat in their lineup that has it. Are they so locked into one design they can't fix something like this? How dumb. It would seem they could easily make it consistent with one of the other boats, retire the need to have unique parts, and save money/cut costs. They could sell a retrofit kit and make more money. I'd buy one in a minute for my 18. !! rant mode off !!

The H16, while it's a little different, is pretty much the same concept. I kind of like the TheMightyHobie18 system - you don't have to rotate the mast to step it. I don't want to sail with the pin in anyway (lest you become the nut in a nut cracker should you suffer a dismasting).

One slip raising the mast letting it go to one side inadvertantly or having something catch on something and you'll break the plate. You might not like it so much at that point... Once you do that you learn to keep a spare in your tool box. I've broken one raising the mast, and I've had one shatter/break into pieces while sailing which was interesting...

I very much prefer the system on my 20 in contrast, even though the mast needs to be rotated.