My wife and I are in the process of redoing our 1973 H16. The boat is in good shape and we are sanding it down to paint it with DuPont Imron (sprayed on lightly). I know this will take care of the oxidation that slows older boats down, but my question is can the old boat still be competitive in the race circuit?
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<br>As a follow up question I have heard many people say that new sails really breathe new life into your boat. Our current sails are 1984 multi-colors and are still "snappy". Is it worth it to get new racing sails if we are going to start racing next year?
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<br>kyle h16 <><<br><br>

Most of us in B & C fleet sail older boats with old sails. I love sailing with these folks; sometimes one of those really fast guys runs off and leaves us, but most of us sail together, and the competitions is exciting. I bought a new set of sails for my boat have not experienced a great competitive advantage. We sail heavy, but I think most of it is getting your boat set up and improving tactics. The important thing is to have fun!<br><br>

Hello,
<br> The newer hulls weigh in 15 lbs lighter then the older ones. The questions you have to ask yourself is what type of racing do you want to compete in? Do you want to finish first or are you just looking for a good time. I know I just junked 1979 hulls because they were de-laminated and just horrible. Are yours salvagable? New sails help of course, but if you haven't beaten yours up then why waste the money. I think the bottom line is how competitive you want to be.....<br><br>

I think the old H16's PN # should remain 76.6 as the H16 PN # just changed to 76.1. I know this would create PN racing within the H16 ranks but maybe this would equal out the performance difference between new (1984 - 2000 +) and old H16's (1983 and back). Lets addmit it the new H16's are lighter and a more responsive performer. I know it is the skipper and crew that makes the boat go and but I also know boat is a factor, why else would the top H16 racers regularly buy new H16's.
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<br>The challenge is determing what age of boat we want the old PN number to be used with and if we really want to have a little PN racing within our ranks. The Hobie 16 Trapseat has a PN # of 77.6 for now so when the Trapseat sailors start showing up to Hobie regattas (which is currently the plan) we will be doing some PN racing anyways.<br><br>

What makes the new boats faster? Just the hulls or are there other factors that are involved?<br><br>

Newer boats will be faster due to lighter weight (both from construction techniques and water absorbtion) and stiffness. If your boat is in good shape, you need only answer the question of what type of racing you want to be involved in. Are you just starting out? Are you seasoned and want to mount a nationals campaign? If the boat is in solid shape and you're just starting, I'd recommend fixing it up to a certain degree and go racing. For the first year or so you'll gain more from learning proper boat handling and tactics than from the difference in hull weight. This, of course, is only true if the boat is in good enough shape that you are not constantly fighting failures and such (frustrating). For me, I'd even forego the painting - just compound and polish the hulls - it may not be as pretty, but you will not have the added weight of the paint and the smoother surface is what you're after anyway. I'd get new sails, but again in the beginning you might gain more from proper technique. I might be suggesting that just because I like my new main so much, even though my old one was still serviceable...
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<br>So, I'd do the tricks to tighten up the boat, fix things that are broken, pass on the painting, get new rags, and enjoy. When you've figured things out then decide on the new(er) boat.<br><br>Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
<br>H-18
<br>Northstar 500 (monoslug)
<br>WRCRA - www.wrcra.org

Thanks for your encouragement. Seeing as how I have only been sailing the boat for 1 season I am sure that B and C fleets will keep me busy for awhile.
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<br>I am going to go through with the hull fixes and sanding. As far as painting goes, I have a friend that works at a place that paints airplanes and they use the same kinds of paints as boats (for fiberglass and other composites). He said if I got the hulls to him ready to go, he could give them a once over the next time they are shooting a plane. Pretty sweet deal, so I 'm not complaining.
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<br>So, I will have old hulls in great shape. This translates to not the best racer, but for all intinsive purposes they will be as good as new. I figure this will give me a great boat to mess around with on the weekends and a decent B/C racer. With the shape it is in I might actually be able to sell it one of these days!?
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<br>About sails, how new is new? Should I get the racing white, I hear they stretch less? Where is the best place to get good sails without forking over $$$ to the Hobie CatAlog.
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<br>Thanks for all of your help guys.
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<br>kyle h16 <><<br><br>

I had tried to post a long-winded reply about sails and stuff, but it seems to have not made it in. I'll try again but I'll make an effort to not be so long-winded! Here goes. If you are going to race in class events you will need class legal sails, and only Hobie sails are class-legal. As far as getting new sails from other sources to be cheaper (ok in open class racing), my recent experience is that may be false economy (my other non-post had the gory details, I'll go over them if you want either here or in email). Basically, I got a new main for my 18 from Hobie, and had a chance to compare with a leading "affordable" sail. The sail from Hobie was much preferable. In a nutshell, if you are racing at all, in my opinion the class-legal sails are a minimum requirement. If you are open class racing you can go nutso and get a fathead main or some other custom concoction, but I wouldn't go the simply cheap route.
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<br>If you can find recent used sails in good shape that would be a good low-cost way to go. My feeling is that quality of the Hobie sails has improved dramatically, but I'm not sure exactly what date to pin the improvement to.
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<br>My new sails are white for the simple reason that they are cheaper that way. That the white sail cloth is supposedly more stable and stretch resistant is a bonus, but I honestly don't know for sure if that's true other than that's what I hear. Also, for racing, you'll hear some people say that the white is better because you blend in and might not get noticed for infractions or such. Whatever. I'd guess it really boils down to whether you like the looks of the colored sails and whether you want to pay for them.<br><br>Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
<br>H-18
<br>Northstar 500 (monoslug)
<br>WRCRA - www.wrcra.org