It's official now!

[volklgirl]

For those of you who may not know, this is my other summer passion (1973 Hobie H-16 #5315, named Hopefully Upright):


I've been sailing my baby for 2 years without flipping her.............make that 2 years and 1 day . There's a saying among Hobie Cat sailors; "There's 2 types of sailors, those who have flipped their boat, and those who will." I'm now in the first group, making me an official, initiated Hobie sailor.

In gusting and shifty winds today, I tacked her to head back in. Just as she passed head-to-wind, the wind shifted while the jib was still backwinded and cleated. I must have accidently also cleated the main as I reached to flip the tiller to the other side. Next thing I know, she's heeling up in slow-mo...up, up, up...and over I go - muttering "NO, NO, NO", and uttering obscenities the entire time . I figured that at 190+ lbs with years of windsurfer up-hauling experience, righting the cat should be a breeze. NOT! Even with spinning her around, standing on the lower hull, and putting all my weight into the righting line, I got nothing. She originally went turtle (mast straight down in the water), but I got the mast to the surface, then that was as far as I could get it. I do think that maybe my righting line is a bit short, because when I flipped it over the upper hull I only had a loop about 8" long to try to grab on to. Since I'm short and have short arms, I just couldn't get any leverage.

Fortunately, a family in a power boat saw me flip and hung out to make sure I was OK. The father maneouvered their boat around until one of the daughters could grab the tip of the mast and lift it out of the water. Once she got it up about 6", the cat came right up. Then they were worried about me getting my fat a&& back on board. Many, many enthusiastic and grateful Thank Yous later, we both went our merry ways.

That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I decided to go for a sail today, but it wasnt anywhere near as bad an experience as I had anticipated. I WILL be doing it again on purpose (on a warmer and slightly calmer day) very soon. Looks like a longer righting line and a righting bag may be in order.

For those not familiar with Hobie sailing, here's a short video of a move called "pitch poling" or "stuffing the bow" (ouch! My flip wasn't quite that spectacular) and the subsequent righting of the boat. Keep in mind, this boat was righted by 3 people. I had to attempt it alone. My arms are still aching 4 hours later. :(
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SykDeOwTt2c"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SykDeOwTt2c[/ame]

 

[SnowHot]

Volklgirl, you need another obsession!

 

[Jilly]

That's why I never like Cat's. At least with our O'Day you just stood on the centre board and everything came up. But sailing is an obsession and not a bad one either. Keep er upright!

 

[abc]

Ooooh, do I smell the classic debate of monohaul vs. cat?

 

[volklgirl]

Nope. I've sailed both. I love my Cat, but it's all good.

 

[LilaBear]

I can't how much energy you have and how many wonderful hobbies!

I love the Hobies, I haven't sailed one, but they look so much fun. I took up dinghy sailing last year, and did capsize drill and there really was no way I was ever going to right that thing on my own. I have arms like spaghetti and all my power and weight is in my lower body, if I could have lifted it high enough it would have been plenty of ballast!!

 

[Jilly]

Ooooh, do I smell the classic debate of monohaul vs. cat?

"monohull (?)

Yes that would be classic, but I won't bite. Both have their place in the sailing world. And in a lot of cases it's personal. And since I don't have a quiet boat anymore, I'm not going to go there. DH is a power man, he thinks sailing is like XC skiing. Too slow for him. VG he's never really sailed, so he doesn't know how much wind these things can harness.

 

[abc]

I've not sailed EITHER! ;-) But that doesn't stop me from overhearing all that "debate".

For pratical purpose of getting a ton of stuff from point a to point b, I vote for cats, power or not. But for fun, I think I'm more of a monohull person. A bit like fat ski vs. narrow ski kind of thing. Different kind of fun, for different folks.

But, I refuse to get into another area of water sport. Having owned one boat is expensive enough: "a boat is a hole upon water into which you pour..."

 

[SnowHot]

I've not sailed EITHER! ;-) But that doesn't stop me from overhearing all that "debate".

For pratical purpose of getting a ton of stuff from point a to point b, I vote for cats, power or not. But for fun, I think I'm more of a monohull person. A bit like fat ski vs. narrow ski kind of thing. Different kind of fun, for different folks.

But, I refuse to get into another area of water sport. Having owned one boat is expensive enough: "a boat is a hole upon water into which you pour..."

abc, I'm amazed and confused by the idea that you have no interest in a "hole in the water", yet you found it necessary to poke in here in an attempt to stir the pot, where there was/is no debate, nor dissension.

This post, in fact is not up for debate, but is a request to stop stirring the pot for the sake of pot stirring.


My apologies to Volklgirl and the rest who are enjoying this thread.

 

[volklgirl]

DH is a power man, he thinks sailing is like XC skiing. Too slow for him. VG he's never really sailed, so he doesn't know how much wind these things can harness.

That's funny. My DH took a ride on my Mom's 32' on a day with light winds, loaded with 6 people and gear :(. After that experience, he couldn't have cared less about sailing. The first time I took the Cat out about a year later, he watched from the shore. Then I hit a gust, the rudders started to hum and the hull started to lift as I shot across the lake. I came back all grins and giggles, and all of a sudden he was interested in giving it a try. Unfortunately, the tramp seating is hard on his back, so he usually bows out of sailing :(, but now he at least understands my fascination.

 

[slowjo]

Volklgirl, I love sailing. If you ever need a first mate let me know.

 

[VickiK]

A long time ago, a life time ago, I used to crew for my boyfriend on his Hobie 18. We flipped once or twice. I got my nose broken in the middle of a race, blood all over the tramp. I bought a custom-made harness for hiking out. He taught me to sail and to ski, countless bruises. Exciting and fun times! :D I stuck with the skiing but it's fun to remember to sailing.

Good experience with the Hobie 16, volklgirl!