New Hobie F18?

Don't forget tides too. Wind shifts are actually the thing that separates boats. Some boats sail a shorter course to A mark. Some boats sail in more wind on their way to A mark by sailing smarter.

Mike Hill
N20 #1005

so what happens if this proposed hull shape is actually faster by a small, but noticable margin? Everyone runs out to buy the new boat? Is that what they refer to in other threads about

arms race

?

This could be a good thing. If the difference is small enough, it only matters to the best, most competitive sailors. Then they'll run out and buy a new boat and sell their older but still great boat to a less competitive sailor at a discount.

It's the trickle-down theory of class building.

Oh yeah! I forget tide and current and since the current can vary all over the course depending on the water depth....

we have a few years to worry about this atleast in the states hobie usa may wait to import them.

New designs are always faster, it works like this.....

Say you have a three year old

Design X

, you've raced it pretty hard and done well. Then you test sail a brand new

Design Y

and discover it is stiffer, faster and more responsive than your current boat, therefor it must be better so you sell your boat and buy the new one.

The truth is 90% of the 2% difference is that you're comparing 3 year old gear with brand new stuff. Test sail a brand new

Design X

(identical to your current boat) and you'll probably find the same difference.

One thing most F18 sailors will tell you is all the boats (including the older designs) can have their day, More than anything else the new hobie is a marketing and fashion exercise because after 12 years the Tiger is falling out of fashion.

Well said!

Not sure if this was posted on catsailor before but this is the 2nd picture:

It must be fast because that's Gaud-awful ugly... Looks like a native warrior mask...

That some sort of spray deflection

chine

?

(I donno what to call it, I know its not a chine)

looks like a inverted anti-pitchpole foil
Is it just the angle of the pic or is the hull asymetric?

I have a guess... but it's a SWAG

That

lip

causes air to be sucked into the water flowing next to the hull, similar to a stepped hull on a power boat. Decreases resistance.

Now, if not that... maybe it's just to deflect spray a little.

It's too high up for that though...and it's indented the wrong way to be an anti-pitchpole feature. I can't figure out what the idea is behind that.

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing too b/c a step would be 90 degrees to what it is on this hull... but got to thinking a/b the way water flows over these hulls. It's not just a fore/aft flow but there is a lot of flow vertically in that area of the hull. Unless Hobie tells us, this is all guess work anyway.

the lip looks to be bigger on top than bottom. thats what made me think of the pitchpole foils.
like it will create a lifting force on the bow if driven down. maybe we will see at the paris boat show when its unveiled.

It's like the deck lip on a Hobie 16 - a spray deflector.

I really can't see where that's going to be any faster.

Just a spray rail. Look where it fairs back into the hull. The Mk1 hawk had a problem with the spray from this area flowing over the rounded deck and hitting the main beam making the leeward hull a very wet area for the crew.

Cheshirecatman

OK, I can see that. I can really feel that water washing over the deck and hitting the front beam on the I20 and it drives me nuts. Nacra solved that on the Infusion by making the top forward deck relatively flush with the main beam. They wouldn't stop a pitchpole but maybe you can get a little lift out of it with those chines (or whatever you would call them).

I can't see the angle or additional buoyancy of the rails doing anything for pitchpole resistance, even in a modest bow down attitude. However, look at the low down hull buoyancy.

Cheshirecatman

It's not like this is a new concept, although the implementation is different.

Shark Catamaran (check out the spray deflector on the bow):

If you look closely at these Cougar catamarans, you can see the same spray deflector (this is from 1965):

I thought it was a handle for lifting the boat on the beach <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

Putting sponsor stickers on the bow will be a real pain with those spraythingies getting in the way.

You can add:
Hellcat and other early c-class
Manta
Thai
Shearwater
Dolphin
Yachting World Cat

and I am sure many others. All 40+ years old.

Cheshirecatman

My guess is the slots will be attached to tubes that vent out the stern. They will produce a rooster tail. That will bring in the powerboat crowd that can no longer pay for gas.

Double Super Secret bow design.

It could also be to add stiffness locally, or just styling.

Gareth

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!

Its a pretty pretty that you don't have . My boat has them yours don't. Now you have to get one. Love the f-18 class.

ahh... consider it character building to forgo the pretty pretty and just try to win with the basics!

But... if the contest is limited just to the bar after the race... Pretty Pretty has enormous rhetorical value and you should absolutely go for it.

Now curved banana boards in the A class that is a story yet to be told... so it could be worse!

Spray rails on the Cougar were a total failure...