FX-One with Two

hey Kip....anytime...when you get a chance,,,Im in no hurry...when you are upwind whats your setting for traveler,downhaul,outhaul...whats your usual wind and sea conditions....Harper..

BLS,

Nope,...not going,....for those other readers,..the COORS regatta in Puerto Rico gives MONEY to each class as a prize! ,...

..I believe the 1st,...2nd and 3rd.....get money,..

..correct me on this BLS..

regards,
Bruce
St. Croix

ps.''hopefully I will be sailing with Harper,..once he gets back from vacation...

Yup, you are right...heres the link Coors Light Sundance Regatta

and some more info here Club Nautico PR

I think the categories are :
1. Spinnaker Racing
2. J 24
3. Racing/Cruising
4. Jib & Main (Dacron sails; Single headsail)
5. Beach Cats
6. Open Class

Soooo come on over, the more competition the better!

Broken Leg Sailor....

The recommendations to start on a H16 are sound and a cant lose option. I have been CAT sailing since the 70s and the H16 is the absolute cheapest, easiest to find, easy to sell beach cat around. In our area, they come up under $1000 frequently; my last two 16s didn't cost over $500, the better of the two was actually $400. Although harder to find at this price, they come up far more frequently than you would imagine.

While technologically in the dark ages, the Hobie 16 with its asymmetrical hulls and lack of daggerboards, still is a blast to sail. It's one of the best BEATERS on the coast and used parts float around on ebay all the time. Dan Berger of VA Beach sells used gear as well (I got a sound pair of white hulls, frame, tramp for $200 with good bottoms).

Carry a friend or two out for an easy going cruise or power up and hit the trap(s) for a full-on blast. Two can rule on a properly rigged H16 with grins all around. Of course, in heavy air with swells offshore, you learn to develop ye olde "third eye" on that leeward hull watching for the sub action.

You ask about soloing... Well, on the H16, this is not for the faint of heart in 15knts and above. I would recommend a LOT OF TRAP time with the tiller and a full understanding of sail control before attempting this. Still, soloing on my H16 is my favorite - Flying a hull solo offshore in 12-15knts on a H16 is the CHEAPEST CAT BLAST you can do! Smooth reactions with proper weight distribution, helm control, and minute trim corrections on the main are very important (done smoothly). Yet on a good day with steady air, you can fly a hull solo till you get TIRED of it...

H16 solo offshore - see land in distance - broken halyard, old Chuck Taylors, Birdwells, seat of pants
"cheap" fun - Definition of Beach CAT sailing!

Want to move up? Simply sell your beater H16 for what you paid for it and move on. I have never lost money on a H16. And even after moving up the cat chain, I still regard it as one of the best beater beach cats around. Look for white hulls, 83 and later (lighter). Inspect bottoms for wear and area forward of front pillars for softness (press down on deck).

Hobie 16 = CHEAP - PLENTIFUL - PARTS - STILL A BLAST....

Kelly

BLS,

yep,...you are right,....nice links,...

...for the rest of you,..$30,000 ,.....yes, ..no typo,...

...$30,000 USD in prize money,....and they give it all away each year!

regards,
Bruce
St. Croix

Harper,

I've only been on the boat about 1/2 dozen times so far, so I still have a lot of learning to do. So far, I've been in everything from a drifter to about 18 knots. Inland sailing, so chop vs waves.

Let's say 10-12 knots....outhaul is tight whenever I go upwind, downhaul to take the wrinkles out, traveler centered and sheeted in tight. In wind over that, downhaul goes on first, then work the main, if I'm still overpowered, I travel down a bit.

What is your mast rake and do you have your mast prebent? Also, I saw some of your pix a while back and you seem to have a bit more draft in the main than mine....have you tapered the battens at all?

Thanks for the input!

Kip

I have plans to look at a 95 H16 in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure the condition but I think it should be in great shape, the people who sail it are regular sailors and race quite often. The asking price is $3000 without a trailor, is this too high?. What should I look for when inspecting the boat, I have a list but I might be missing a few items and maybe I'm not quite sure how to check each item. What should the boat include? Any info will be helpful.

Thanks,
BLS

Hi Kip,

I was wondering what rating you get sailing two-up on the FX-1? If you look at the USSA-Portsmouth Yardstick Multihull corrections, you only get a multiplier of 1.01 for sailing in excess of 130% of the class minimum. There does not seem to be a correction for two-up on a single-hander.
I often race with two on my FX-1 with the jib. Seems about as fast as single, but the corrections work against me because you take a .975 hit for the jib and only get 1.01 for the extra body, so that you end up with:
FX-1 solo, no spin = 71.2
FX-1, 2-up w/jib = 70.1
This says the 2-up w/jib is faster by about a minute per hour sailed

I prefer sailing it 2-up (I actually agree with Wouter that it may be too buoyant, especially for my mere 160 lbs), but I don't think it is that much faster.

Thanks!

Steve
Hobie FX-1 (2?) Sail # 211

Steve,
What is the correction factor for a spinnaker?

For example, there is no number for a spinnaker I-17 normal.

thanks,

Bruce
St. Croix

Kip...sounds to me like you are doing everything right...one thing I failed to mention is mast rotation,,,in 10-12,I have the mast set in front of the shrouds,,,bigger wind further back,,,my mast is set on the third hole up on the chain plate....mast prebend is set to heavy air,,,check your tuning guide,,,,you should have gotten one when you got the boat....one other thing ,,,where are you when you are trapped out??...I put my feet of either side of the dagger boards....in 10-12 you might let the outhaul out about an inch,,,see if that helps,,,,Harper

there is a modification table for portsmouth that has all the multipliers for spin,jib,and excess crew weight etc.,,,,

Steve,

I have a rating of 68.4 with the spin up. I haven't raced with my wife yet, should be next month when it warms up, but the rating will remain the same. There is no correction for taking an extra person on. It will just allow me to have her run the chute and I can concentrate on steering.....besides I will have some great company out there too.

Harper,

Thanks for the tips. I also forgot to mention the mast rotator. I've been setting it at the shrouds and moving it back as the wind picks up. I'll try rotating more and see what happens. I did get the tuning guide and have the prebend set for lighter air and my weight.....I want more power (aarrggghhh!). I'll check the chainplate later tonight or tomorrow and see where it is. I am in about the same location as you while trapped out. I pretty much straddle the boards, but I may be just a hair more forward in "just trapping" conditions vs. "gotta trap" conditions. I'll also try letting more outhaul off and see what happens. Probably around next month, the thermal effect kicks in here and we have a consistent 18-20+ from about 6am to 10am every morning. That's what I'm looking forward to. Again, it's inland, so I won't see the waves you do.....probably why I might be a little more forward than you while trapping.

A righting question for both of you....what kind of righting system do you have. The previous owner has Rick's power righting system on there and it's....OK. I might adapt it a bit to make it better.

Thanks for all the tips, hopefully between the three of us, we'll get these boats screamin'!

Kip
Boise, ID
FX-1

In a post of 22 may 2004 you wrote :

>>I weigh about 190lbs and have no trouble at all with righting, it comes up in no time. The person I bought it from weighed about 165 lbs and he reported little trouble righting it as well.

Only to write on 26 may 2004 you wrote

>>A righting question for both of you....what kind of righting system do you have. The previous owner has Rick's power righting system on there and it's....OK. I might adapt it a bit to make it better.

How do you square these two comments ?

Wouter

hey Kip...just keep at it and you'll get it figured out,,,,keep the outhaul tight when the wind gets big....at 225lbs I dont have much problem with righting the boat,,,only one time did I have any problem,,,wind was real light and I just couldnt get my balance on the daggerboard....other than that one time I've had no problem

Well mr Wouter, in order to square the comments, I would add all the words up and multiply it by itself. That would mean those comments are then squared.

If you are really asking for further insight into the comments....let me explain. When I bought the boat, the owner stated he was 165 (and visually this seems about right). He stated he could right it with the pole, I believed him and felt no need for a demonstration of this ability. I have capsized twice. The first time, it came up easily.....hence the first comment. I had a race this past weekend and in between races, was messing around with various items and went over again. This time, it was a little tougher and I did some on-water adjustments to make it right a little easier. My assessment is that Rick's righting pole on this boat is....OK. It works, but I was inquiring to others with the same boat to find out what they use. I may adapt the pole system or may go with a new system entirely depending on others' experience. I hope this explanation meets your questions.

Kip
Boise, ID
FX-1

Kip,

Let me explain my background with the FX.

During a week of daily sailing with 2 FX-ones (shed opened at 10:00 a.m. and closed at 6:30 PM) we had a competion going who could get the FX-one righted as it came standard from the factory. Meaning no extra righting aids; just the righting line and the common righting procedure. Any tricks like swimming the bows over, using the mainsail etc were allowed. The conditions varied greatly from time to time, From no wind to absolute howling winds. Only one every managed to right the boat like that and that was because he got really lucky. He flipped the boat to windward in a lull (unintentionally by the way) in very gusty conditions. He saw the potential and dove under the leeward hull to pop up hitting his head on the daggerboard. Climbed on the boat as his life depended on it grapped the righting line and throw it over the upper hull while the boat was speeding up on its side and rotating with its mast to lee. Gust came and he hung on the the rigting line. Gust hit the trampoline and the mainsail when the mast was a little over 45 degrees of the wind and righted here with some effort. He never could repeat this manouvre and he tried, nor could anyone else who tried that week or in later weeks (as most of us came back at later times). We were all around 185 lbs. The safety crews of the spot (halve of them been doing that as long as the FX was there = about 2 years then) reported that our winner was one of the very very few to ever righted that boat. It was a standard reaction of them to rev up the safety boat to aid in righting. As a matter of fact the did that on the time of succesful righting as well a little amazed that they were not needed.

Of course I understand that all kinds of rigting aids can be had to allow the sailor to right the boat ; water bags, garies solo right, Bills supercat Pole idea etc. But one can forget about it when using the standard setup and I know I tried quite a few times and was the only one to have succeeded at it, only once.

Hence my comments and my question how you square your comments (good joke by the way).

I see that the answer to my question is that both you and the former owner are using an aftermarket righting aid.

Wouter

I managed to right it unaided (same place, same boat I think Wouter). The first time anyway. Pretty sure I'd have managed it the second time too but the safety boat insisted on helping (it was a bit breezy and they had a few other customers waiting ) I might just be a bit more than 185 though....

He George,

Than you are the true winner of our little competition.

Really cool place that Wildwind isn;t it.

Wouter