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Sail Shape can determine your performance around the race course in a big way. Sail shape has a lot to do with how well you are moving with the air that you have. (That’s way they put tell tails on the sails) There are a few tricks that you can use to improve your performance on the water.

1. Light Air Conditions

For Light air conditions you want to have your sail pretty flat. Sometimes the air that is moving can’t quite make it around all that sail, so it stalls out half way through the sail. Flatter sails can make it so the air can move all the way past the sail, and give you that extra advantage on the water.

2. Moderate Air Conditions

Moderate Air conditions call for more shape in the sail. The air is now moving fast enough to make it around the sail, and give you the lift to move around the water. Make sure you have some curve in your sail. It will perform best when you have that sail curved, and watch your telltales. I think here you can adjust your sails to the shape, so play around with how much curve you want, but just make sure you have some.

3. Heavy Air Conditions

Heavy air conditions are tough, Good Luck! Most of the time, you want to have your sails flat. The wind usually is blowing so hard that your boat will have a hard time turning, and having control of it. I do not recommend doing this unless you are an expert. But as far as sail shape, you will want to have your sails pretty flat.

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Baton Sanding: One of the slight and noticeable adjustments that you can make to your hobie is to sand the batons down.

List of Items needed
1. Good sander and I recommend using about 200 grit to start out. Then working your way to 400 grit.
2. Long sleeve shirt. (Your arms can get really itchy)
3. Good dust mask. (You don’t want to breathe in all that fiberglass!)
When you sand your batons you want to sand near the leading edge of the baton. Work your way about 3/4ths of the way down the baton. When you sand, you want to cut that ridge down near the front 1/3 of the baton, what this does is make that baton more flexible, giving the sail a better shape to get the most power out of your sail. Your goal is to get more curve up at the front of the sail, giving you that extra lift. Be careful not to sand too much off, or your batons could end up breaking if not when sailing, then defiantly when moving the sails around.

Wile we are on the subject of batons, you will also want to cut them to length of your sail. I suggest putting the baton in and pushing in on it so it will be the appropriate length when you cut it, then when you tie it in, it will fit nice and snug into the sail.

*If you are really into batons, and sail shape, you will want to have several pairs of batons and change them out for the current wind conditions.

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Waxing your boat may make it look nicer when it is just sitting around in your front yard, but on the water it’s a totally different story. Waxing leaves a film on the boat’s surface, and when you move through the water it will actually create little bubbles along the boat’s surface. This will hinder the boat from moving most fluidly though the water. So, Waxing is a bad idea, unless you want your boat to look nice, and you don’t care much about going fast.

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One of the major upgrades that you can make to your Hobie is to upgrade you rudders. This is a bit of a big deal, and will make a large difference, not in performance, but in feel, ease and comfort for you. If you have an older boat, with the polyester type rudders (White rudders) the more used they get, the more they have a tendency to bend right and left.

Since the tow hull design of a Hobie 16 has no dagger boards, the rudder almost acts like a dagger board at the same time. If there is a lot of pressure on the rudder, like if you where flying, or close to it, the rudder will curl toward the boat. This will make turning harder, and keeping the boat going straight a bit of a challenge. To fix this problem, I recommend upgrading your rudders to the EPO rudders, (Black rudders.) They are made of Carbon Fiber Epoxy, this makes them a lot more stiff, and they will not bend under pressure, making it easier to control the boat, and you will not have to fight the boat as much to keep it going straight. These rudders can be a little bit pricey, so if you find some used ones, they should work just as well. From What some people tell me, they like the original EPO rudders over the EPO2 rudders. So Keep an eye out for a used pair.

*Check out These pair of Rudder Covers

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When considering the tightness of the trampoline, you only need to remember one thing. The tighter, the better. The trampoline actually makes a lot of difference when it comes to how your boat handles and preforms. The looser the tramp is the harder time it will have flying, and pick up speed, the tighter the tramp, the more the hulls will be parallel. An easy test is to unstrap your boat on the trailer, and start to lift up on on of the hulls in the front, and see how far you can get before the other hull starts to come up to. (They should be pretty close.)

I have read in some book that they recommend getting pliers and using them to tighten up the tramp, or if you have a line grip tool, you can use that as well. In any case you want it to be as tight as possible.

On the subject of trampolines as well, newer trampolines have double the grommets in the tramp. This allows it to get the tramp even tighter and more secure. One technique that I have heard of people doing is to use two smaller lines running through the tramp, and then tightening them up with pliers. In any case, get your tramp as tight as you can!

*Check Out this trampoline cover for your Hobie

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When you purchase your Hobie there are a few things to keep in mind. Fist is how much more money do you want to throw at it, and what kind of work do you want to do to it? When you have a pretty good idea of what your budget looks like, you can start looking for a boat.

When you are looking at boats, there are a few tricks that I have learned about the Hobie. First on the back left side, right next to the rail, you will find a string of numbers engraved into the boat. The last two numbers are the year that your Hobie was made. This gives you great incite as to what you are looking at. When you are looking for boats, also keep in mind that as far as 16’s go 1979 was the worst year that Hobie made. Apparently they had some issues with their molds and fiberglass, and this year is especially prone to soft spots, and de-lamination.

As far as soft spots go what you need to do is start at the front of the boat, and working your way to the back push down on the hulls. You will feel if there are any soft spots, and wile they can be repaired, it will take time, a little bit of money, and you do have to do a little drilling. So keep that in mind. Soft spots also are usually right in front of the tramp. This for whatever reason is the most common spot for soft spots. You will also want to run your hand down the sides of the hulls to feel for soft spots there, but they are harder to find.

Also keep in mind the trailer. you want a good solid trailer. and if your town is anything like mine, the best spot to look for Hobies are in other people’s yards. This means that they have probably had the boat sitting in their yards for a few years, and all you need to do is simply go knock on their door and buy it from them. This also means that the trailer will more than likely need some work. You may end up taking it to an auto shop and getting the bearings greased, or have some lights to fix, but that is all pretty cheap.

I hope you get out there and find some great deals, and have fun sailing!

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First what is “Mast Rake?” Mast rake is how far forward or back you tilt your mast. Usually if your mast is raked, you have it tilted toward the back of the boat. When sailing a multi hulled boat, such as a catamaran, there is a little trick that can make a of difference in the way you sail. Mast Rake is one easy thing to change, and will make a difference. Especially on a Hobie cat boat. Mast rake actually effects a lot of different things, and some surprising things you may have not know.

1. Fist the straighter the mast is the more the force of the wind will push down on the front of the boat. So, if you are thinking about sailing fast, you will have to get way back on the boat! To keep from pitch poling so much set the mast rake back. Also having the mast almost straight will not let the boat point as well. There are a few considerations that you need to consider on how far, and how much you want to spend on mast rake. You are probably thinking why would I need to spend money on mast rake? Let me explain in a minute.

2. Setting the mast rake back will fist of all help the boat point better in the wind. If you are into racing, this can be a huge advantage! (especially for a small sailboat like a 16!) One other thing that it changes is the feel on the rudder stick. Wile the downward pressure changes from being more toward the front to the back, the rudders are now taking more pressure. This will make the feel of the rudder stick harder to turn the boat. If I could give my opinion I defiantly recommend raking the mast. It is well worth taking the hit on the rudder stick for the improved performance that you get.

3. Now lets talk about how you set the rake. The shrouds are linked to the boat with a thing called chain plate. This is fairly easy to do, you just need to set the pins in a higher hole in the chain plate. You do the same thing in the forestay. (if you need to get even more mast rake, you can get another chain plate, and connect it to the existing one, then rig your jib through the top chain plate.)
Now that you have changed the mast rake, if you have an old style seaway main block, (stacked block) you will not be able to use it anymore. (The main sheet has 3 blocks.) If you sheet in the main all the way, there is no room for the seaway block. You will have to upgrade your main block to a 6:1. These work really well. If you buy one new, it will run you as much as $200. If you keep your eye on e-bay, they come up every once and a wile for around $50.

I hope this tip helps you with your multi hulled boat, so get out there and Get Wet!

* If you have a comp tip mast, you will want to think about protecting it. Check out this Comp Tip Mast Cover

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This is the first boat that I have ever owned. It is a 1979 Hobie 16. When I bought it, I didn’t really expect to be totally redoing the entire boat, but it did have a lot of dents and scratches that where pretty deep. So I decided to just sand those down, and fill them in as best as I could, but it ended up just taking off from there.

After filling in all the scratches, I had to do something about the soft spots. There where two pretty big soft spots that I had to worry about and after a few weeks of fretting over it, and asking everyone I knew about it, they told me the best thing was to cut out an inspection hole. I didn’t really want to start slicing up my boat, so I decided to do a little more research on the internet, and actually my dad found the perfect solution. What happens when you get soft spots is the fiberglass starts to separate. This is called de-lamination. To fix this, you can drill small holes half way into the fiberglass. Then you inject it with some resin. The thing that seems to work is called west systems 404. It is a little expensive, but afterwords, it was rock hard. I highly recommend going this rout.

Well, after all of the body work was done, I went down to the local body shop, and went paint shopping. Wile I was there, I talked to a lot of people, and asked a lot of questions. Finally landing on a paint, I decided to go with a single stage paint. It is called U-tech 3.8. This paint was super easy to mix, and spray. It also is suppose to hold up really well over seasons of use. So, it turned out pretty well looking if you ask me.

All in all I think I spent around 3 months doing the body work, from start to finish. Just a few hours almost every day. Also I think I ended up spending around $800 in materials, and paint. It is a lot of work, but worth the results if you want a pretty nice looking, and sailing boat. But you really need to plan out what you are going to do, and how much you want to spend, then double it!

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This Is Your Basic Sailing Language

A

abeam – directly to the side of the boat.
about – on the opposite tack.
aft – at or near the stern.
alee – to the leeward side.
aloft – above the deck.
apparent wind – the direction and speed of the wind felt by the crew. Combination of the true wind and that created by the motion of the boat.
astern – behind the boat.

B

backstay – any single wire supporting the mast from the stern.
batten – thin wooden strips fitted into pockets for stiffening the leech of a sail.
beam – measurement of the width of a boat.
beam reach – sailing with the wind coming across the boat’s beam.
beam wind- a wind at right angles to a boat’s course.
bear away – to steer the boat away from the wind.
beat- sailing against the wind by tacking (sailing a zigzag course towards the wind).
beating to windward – to sail to windward close-hauled, tacking as you go, to reach an objective to windward.
bend to connect two ropes with a knot.
block – a pulley.
bollard – a short heavy post on a pier or boat used for fastening docking lines.
boom – spar that takes the foot of a sail.
bow – the forward part of a boat.
broach – turn sideways to wind and the surf.
broad reach – the point of sailing between a beam reach and a run, when the wind blows over the quarter.
buoy – floating navigational marker.

C

capsize – to overturn.
catamaran .
catboat .
center of effort (coe) – the point at which all the forces acting on the sails are concentrated.
center of lateral resistance (CLR) – the underwater center of pressure about which a boat pivots when changing course.
centerboard – retractable keel to stop a boat’s leeward drift.
chain plate- metal fitting bolted to the side of a boat to hold the ends of stays and shrouds.
cleat- fitting to which a line is secured, without knotting.
clew- aft bottom corner of a sail, where the foot and leech meet.
close-hauled- sailing close to the wind with sails pulled in.
close reach – the point of sailing between close-hauled and a beam reach, when the wind blows forward of the beam.
come about – to change course so as to be sailing at the same angle but with the wind on the other side.
course – the direction in which a vessel is steered, usually given in degrees.
cutter – single-masted fore-and-aft boat having an inner staysail and outer jib.

D

daggerboard – centerboard that does not pivot.
dinghy – a small boat used to ferry people to a yacht; also used for sailing or rowing; also called a tender.
downhaul – rope used to set up downward tension or haul down a sail or spar.

E

eye of the wind- direction from which the true wind is blowing.

F

falling off – turn away from the direction of the wind.
foot- a sail’s lower edge.
fore – at or toward the boat’s bow.
fore-and-aft- lengthwise, in the direction of the keel.
foremast – mast nearest to the bow.
forestay – the foremost stay, running from the masthead to the bow.
furl – tightly roll up a sail.

G

gaff – spar that secures the head of a fore-and-aft sail.
galley- a kitchen on a boat.
genoa – large headsail, which overlaps the mainsail.
grommet- rope or brass ring in a sail or piece of canvas.
gunwales – upper edges of a boat’s sides.
guy – adjustable steadying rope of a boat’s rig.
gybing – see jibing.

H

halyard – line used for hoisting sails.
hank- fitting used to attach the luff of a sail to a stay.
hard-a-lee- to put the tiller all the way down toward the leeward side of the boat.
head – a sail’s top corner; also a boat’s toilet.
headsail – sail forward of the foremast.
headstay- a forward stay.
headway – moving forward.
heel- a boat’s angle to horizontal, to lean over to one side.
helm- tiller or wheel.
hoist- the length of the luff of a fore-and-aft sail.
hull – the body of boat.

I

in irons – to head into the wind and refuse to fall off.

J

jib – a triangular headsail set on a stay forward of the foremast.
jibing – changing direction with the wind aft; to change from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind; also spelled gybing.
jibsheet – line that controls the jib.

K

keel – centerline backbone at the bottom of a boat.
ketch .

L

lashing – a rope used for securing any movable object in place.
lateen – rig with a triangular sail secured to a yard hoisted to a low mast.
lee – the side opposite that from which the wind blows; the opposite of weather.
leech – outside edge of a sail.
lee helm- the tendency of a boat to swing leeward unless held on course.
leeward – away from the wind; the direction to which the wind blows, down wind.
line- any length of rope that has a specified use.
luff – to get so close to the wind that the sail flaps; also the forward edge of a sail.
luff up – to turn the boat’s head right into the wind.

M

mainmast – principal mast on a boat.
mainsail – boomed sail projecting aft from the mainmast
mainsheet- line that controls the main boom.
make fast – secure a line.
mast – vertical spar to which the sails and rigging are attached.
masthead – top of the mast.
mizzen – the shorter, after-mast on a ketch or yawl.

O

on the wind – close-hauled.

P

painter – the bow line by which a dinghy, or tender is towed or made fast.
point- To head close to the wind.
point of sail- the different angles from the wind on which a boat may sail; the boat’s course relative to the direction of the wind.
port – the left-hand side of a boat, looking forward towards the bow (opposite of starboard).
port tack- when a boat sails with the main boom to starboard and wind hits the port side first.
privileged vessel- a boat that has the right-of-way (ROW).

R

reach – sailing on a tack with the wind roughly abeam, all sailing points between running and close- hauled.
ready about – order to prepare for coming about.
reef – reduce the sail area by folding or rolling surplus material on the boom or forestay.
rig – arrangements of masts and sails.
rigging – ropes and wire stays of a boat; securing masts and sails.
rudder – vertical metal or wooden plate attached to the stern, whose movements steer the boat.
rules of the road Right-of-way (ROW)- regulations to prevent collisions between boats.
run – to sail with the wind aft and with the sheets eased out.
running rigging- all of the moving lines, such as sheets and halyards, used in the setting and trimming of sails.

S

schooner .
set – to hoist a sail.
shackle- a U-shaped piece of iron or steel with eyes in the ends, closed by a shackle pin.
sheave – a grooved wheel in a block or spar for a rope to run on.
sheet – line that controls a sail or the movement of a boom.
ship shape- neat, seamanlike.
shrouds – transverse wires or ropes that support the mast laterally.
sloop – .
spar- pole, mast, or boom, that supports a sail.
spinnaker- a large, light, balloon-shaped sail set forward of the mainsail when running before the wind.
splice – to join ropes or wires by unlaying the strands and interweaving them.
spreaders – horizontal spar attached to the mast, which extend the shrouds and stays and help to support the mast.
standing rigging – the shrouds and stays which are permanently set up and support the masts.
starboard – right-hand side of a boat looking forward towards the bow (opposite of port).
starboard tack – tack on which the wind strikes the starboard side first and the boom is out to port.
stay- wire or rope which supports the mast in a fore-and-aft direction; part of the standing rigging.
staysail – sail set on a stay inboard of the forwardmost sail.
step – a recess into which the fell of the mast is placed.
stern – after end of a boat.
stringer – a fore-and-aft member, fitted to strengthen the frames.
sunfish

T

tack – the lower forward corner of the sail, where the luff and the foot meet; also the diagonal made with the wind by a sailboat when close-hauled, (to change from one tack to another by coming about).
tacking – working to windward by sailing close-hauled on alternate courses so that the wind is first on one side of the boat, then on the other.
tell-tales – small lengths of wood sewn through a sail near the luff and leech to allow the air flow over the sail to be checked.
tender – see dinghy.
tiller – short piece of wood by which the rudder is turned.
topsides – the part of a boat’s hull which is above the waterline.
transom – a flat surface at the back of the hull to which the rudder is attached.
traveller – a slide which travels on a track and is used for altering sheet angles.
trim – to adjust the angle of the sails.
true wind- the direction and speed of the wind felt when stationary, at anchor or on land.

W

wake – a boat’s track, behind.
waterline – the line along the hull at which a boat floats.
weather – windward, opposite of leeward.
weather helm – boat with a tendency to swing into the wind unless held on course.
weather side – the side of a boat on which the wind is blowing.
whisker pole – a light pole used to hold out the clew of a headsail when running.
winch – a mechanical device, consisting usually of a metal drum turned by a handle, around which a line is wound to give the crew more “help” when tightening a line.
windward- the direction from which the wind blows, towards the wind (opposite of leeward).

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