I'm looking to add a spinnaker to my Hobie 18. It appears that Jeremy at Surf City Catamarans developed a kit but he appears to be out of the selling parts business (could be wrong though).
I'm looking for parts to put my own kit together, or a complete kit. The toughest part to acquire appears to the hoop (end pole or mid pole), the price Murray's wants is ridiculous.
I'm also interested to hear what people are using for sails. There's a lot of info out there but most of it is outdated at this point.
Jeremy at Surf City is the man i would talk with him for sure!
lots of guys (includong a friend of mine who has an 18 with spin) used the SNU hoop. http://www.gobarefootstudio.com/snu_08.html
its a great hoop for sure. and great guy who makes it
I've seen the SNU setup, they are nice but $415 worth of nice on a boat that is going to be setup for distance racing? I'm trying to put together a setup for less than what I paid for the boat ($1k, and yes it was a steal). They do have a nice end piece I'll probably end up ordering.
I have two thoughts to that end:
1) Make a hoop myself using my CNC machine to cut the foam to the right shape and laying carbon over it.
2) Just bag launch the chute. Not a fan of this idea as it requires storing the chute in the precious space on the trampoline I need for gear.
Any cheaper ideas? Anyone know where to get the aluminum AHPC hoop from?
I bag launch mine. Its old school but it works very well. For distance racing i think i would prefer it. The bag also works pretty well for holding more gear on the boat. I will gut some more pockets sewn into mine for even more storage.