Good answer Bill. This is, I'm sure what happend to the
prior owner of my recently acquired Hobie 17.

He also could not right it by himself--at 150 pounds he
claimed he was not big enough. And he had difficulty launching
the boat by himself.

wrote

Peter,
Take it from a H17 owner - these are a pain to tack w/o a jib. A
couple of the people got it basically right. The key is to ease the
main as you come head to wind. The windage is high on these boats and
the mass of the craft is low so it slows down real fast when pointing
into the wind. Also the center of effort is well aft so the boat will
'weather vane' dead into the wind if you don't ease the main.

My technique was to:

1: keep the mail close hauled as you head up into the wind
2: release the main as you come through the wind. I like to 'help' the
main ease out as the boat rounds over to the new tack but don't
backwind the sail
3: fall off to a close reach
4: gradually sheet in the main. The boat will point up as you do this
(no matter what you do with the rudders) - the sail has more influence
on headding as these low boat speeds
5: as boat speed increases the rudders will bite again and if you
played it right you will now be on your desired close hauled course.

Just remember that in an H17 w/o a jib that at low boat speeds that the
main will be the more importand 'rudder'

1 point for you Doug for bringing out this factor first.

What was so hard about that question? Everyone beat around
the bush and didn't cover the main point like you did Doug.

I'll give honorable mention to Walt and award one point to him
for writing a very nice summary

"DSK" wrote

IMHO that's the single biggest key to tacking a multi, and it doesn't hurt
when tacking a monohull. Ease the main or drop the traveler.

Nice answer Walt. 1 point to you for a great summary.

"Walt" wrote

You just aquired a Hobie 17. What is the best way to tack the boat?

1. Make sure you have decent boat speed before the tack. i.e. you're not
pinching. That may mean footing off a bit if necessary

2. Easy with the tiller! You want a big wide turn, not a sharp angle. If
you stall the tiller the boat will stop. Since most cats have
signigicant weather helm, you can usually just let the tiller go slack in
your hand and the boat will round up nicely. No need to push it over.

3. Trim in the main to help the boat turn up into the wind. Once you
pass head to wind, ease it so that it doesn't fight you through the rest
of the turn.

4. Keep turning until you are on a close reach, then trim in the main and
sail off.

5. If you do get stuck in irons, center the tiller, backwind the main
(on the opposite side to where it was before you tacked) and once you
start moving backwards push the tiller *slightly* the opposite way that
you had it to tack. The boat will back around to the new tack. GOTO 4.
question, the Hobie 17

//Walt

I can get my H17 up with just body weight most days but it can take
some time especially in a stiff brease. Bringing the boat into the
correct orientation to the wind takes some time and a few mis-judgments
will leave you quite tired. So, I got a righting bag to ensure that I
have enough weight to right the boat. Just a little insurance for this
single-handed cat. I recommend that anyone that sails a cat of this
size single-handed get one.


Bart Senior wrote:
Good answer Bill. This is, I'm sure what happend to the
prior owner of my recently acquired Hobie 17.

He also could not right it by himself--at 150 pounds he
claimed he was not big enough. And he had difficulty launching
the boat by himself.

wrote

Peter,
Take it from a H17 owner - these are a pain to tack w/o a jib. A
couple of the people got it basically right. The key is to ease the
main as you come head to wind. The windage is high on these boats and
the mass of the craft is low so it slows down real fast when pointing
into the wind. Also the center of effort is well aft so the boat will
'weather vane' dead into the wind if you don't ease the main.

My technique was to:

1: keep the mail close hauled as you head up into the wind
2: release the main as you come through the wind. I like to 'help' the
main ease out as the boat rounds over to the new tack but don't
backwind the sail
3: fall off to a close reach
4: gradually sheet in the main. The boat will point up as you do this
(no matter what you do with the rudders) - the sail has more influence
on headding as these low boat speeds
5: as boat speed increases the rudders will bite again and if you
played it right you will now be on your desired close hauled course.

Just remember that in an H17 w/o a jib that at low boat speeds that the
main will be the more importand 'rudder'

Thanks for the info Bill.

Bill wrote:
I can get my H17 up with just body weight most days but it can take
some time especially in a stiff brease. Bringing the boat into the
correct orientation to the wind takes some time and a few mis-judgments
will leave you quite tired. So, I got a righting bag to ensure that I
have enough weight to right the boat. Just a little insurance for this
single-handed cat. I recommend that anyone that sails a cat of this
size single-handed get one.

What is a righting bag?

Scotty, former H-14 sailor.


"Bill" wrote in message
oups.com..
..
I can get my H17 up with just body weight most days but it
can take
some time especially in a stiff brease. Bringing the boat
into the
correct orientation to the wind takes some time and a few
mis-judgments
will leave you quite tired. So, I got a righting bag to
ensure that I
have enough weight to right the boat. Just a little
insurance for this
single-handed cat. I recommend that anyone that sails a
cat of this
size single-handed get one.


Bart Senior wrote:
Good answer Bill. This is, I'm sure what happend to the
prior owner of my recently acquired Hobie 17.

He also could not right it by himself--at 150 pounds he
claimed he was not big enough. And he had difficulty
launching
the boat by himself.

wrote

Peter,
Take it from a H17 owner - these are a pain to tack
w/o a jib. A
couple of the people got it basically right. The key
is to ease the
main as you come head to wind. The windage is high on
these boats and
the mass of the craft is low so it slows down real
fast when pointing
into the wind. Also the center of effort is well aft
so the boat will
'weather vane' dead into the wind if you don't ease
the main.

My technique was to:

1: keep the mail close hauled as you head up into the
wind
2: release the main as you come through the wind. I
like to 'help' the
main ease out as the boat rounds over to the new tack
but don't
backwind the sail
3: fall off to a close reach
4: gradually sheet in the main. The boat will point
up as you do this
(no matter what you do with the rudders) - the sail
has more influence
on headding as these low boat speeds
5: as boat speed increases the rudders will bite again
and if you
played it right you will now be on your desired close
hauled course.

Just remember that in an H17 w/o a jib that at low
boat speeds that the
main will be the more importand 'rudder'

Scotty instead of me explaining here's a link to the page in the
murrays catalog. I have the one in the upper left.

http://murrays.com/archive/36-37.pdf


Scotty wrote:
What is a righting bag?

Scotty, former H-14 sailor.


"Bill" wrote in message
oups.com..
.
I can get my H17 up with just body weight most days but it
can take
some time especially in a stiff brease. Bringing the boat
into the
correct orientation to the wind takes some time and a few
mis-judgments
will leave you quite tired. So, I got a righting bag to
ensure that I
have enough weight to right the boat. Just a little
insurance for this
single-handed cat. I recommend that anyone that sails a
cat of this
size single-handed get one.


Bart Senior wrote:
Good answer Bill. This is, I'm sure what happend to the
prior owner of my recently acquired Hobie 17.

He also could not right it by himself--at 150 pounds he
claimed he was not big enough. And he had difficulty
launching
the boat by himself.

wrote

Peter,
Take it from a H17 owner - these are a pain to tack
w/o a jib. A
couple of the people got it basically right. The key
is to ease the
main as you come head to wind. The windage is high on
these boats and
the mass of the craft is low so it slows down real
fast when pointing
into the wind. Also the center of effort is well aft
so the boat will
'weather vane' dead into the wind if you don't ease
the main.

My technique was to:

1: keep the mail close hauled as you head up into the
wind
2: release the main as you come through the wind. I
like to 'help' the
main ease out as the boat rounds over to the new tack
but don't
backwind the sail
3: fall off to a close reach
4: gradually sheet in the main. The boat will point
up as you do this
(no matter what you do with the rudders) - the sail
has more influence
on headding as these low boat speeds
5: as boat speed increases the rudders will bite again
and if you
played it right you will now be on your desired close
hauled course.

Just remember that in an H17 w/o a jib that at low
boat speeds that the
main will be the more importand 'rudder'