H-16 Spinaker

Reply to gksailor

: As I think about it I am wondering how it would be raised under sail?

Raise it with a Spinnaker halyard. The spinnaker is kept in a spinnaker bag on the tramp.

: How do you get it up and get the jib down when the jib luff is under tension keeping the mast forward?

You leave the jib up when you use the Trapseat spinnaker. The Trapseat spinnaker is 400 square feet and the H16 jib does not get in the way.

: Does a spinnaker help much on an H-16?

Let me put it this way how would you like to beat H20’s and N6.0’s to the finish line? Mike Strahle who invented the Trapseats and Trapseat spinnaker system regularly beats Hobie 20’s and Nacra 6.0’s. The Trapseat Spinnaker is a symmetrical sail not asymmetrical like most cats spin’s. The Trapseat spinnaker tends to lift the bows as compared to the asymmetrical spinnaker that tends to pull the bows down on a H16, not a good thing. It’s awesome to have 400-sq. ft. of sail up on the H16 and literally fly across the water. The H16 is very fast on several points of sail but down wind and tight up wind sailing seems to be its disadvantage in certain strengths of wind and the Trapseat spinnaker gives it an advantage down wind and then adding a square top main adds speed up wind, so you end up with a more rounded cat for open non-Hobie racing. Of course when class racing who cares but if you are like me I do a lot of week day sailing and sail against a few cats and mono’s of various designs and is nice to keep up or beat them out right. I have to say H16 one-design sailing is my preference but doing some open class distance racing is starting to interest me more and more, and so having the Trapseat spinnaker and extra sail area up high with a square top main really makes all the difference in the world. Of course having Trapseats to kick back in for comfort on a long race or to trap off of in a big blow is a plus as well.

Just to add a comment sense I am getting so many emails regarding the Trapseat Spinnaker, I am working really hard to develop a section on the current Trapseat web site regarding the Trapseat Spinnaker and will have info. and picture of this spinnaker, so please be patient as I am trying to get it done as fast as I can.

Miles,

can you post the Luff, leach, foot and midgirth measurements of the Hobie 16 spinnaker the trapseat boat are running?

If you are sailing with a 400tf"2 chute that is extreame.

By my calculations, to get a 400ft^2 chute, you would need a luff and leach of 30 ft, a foot of 20 ft and a midgirth of 15 ft. To do this on a hobie 16 would require a 26 ft hoist and a 14 ft pole set level with the front crossbar (ie very low) and the chute would be tacked off the rear beam. This does not seem practical. Are you sure you are not talking about 400 ft of total sail area or a 180 ft^2 chute?

The normal Formula used to calculate sail area is:

Spinnaker sail area = foot*(Leach + Luff)/4 + (midgirth-

foot/2)*(Leach + Luff)/3

Eric

Yes I am sure it is a 400-sq. ft. spinnaker with a 12 foot pole. I'll email Mike Strahles who invented the spinnaker to get those measurements and post it here. If you go to the Trapseat web site you can read about a couple of the events that the spinnaker was used in. I am franticly trying to get the spinnaker section of the Trapseat web site set up and running but is taking a little longer than I would like. I will post a response to your question here and as soon as the spinnaker section of our web site is done I'll let you all know.

I realize the spinnaker is quite large but I know Mike has his reasons and he is currently the king of Trapseat sailing.

Just read your post again as I was cut and pasteing it to an email to Mike, and wanted to add that I am talking about 400 ft of total sail area. Sorry for the miss understanding.

How much does a spinaker kit cost for the H-16 and where would I find one? Do you guys suggest any kits or sailmakers?

The only place I know where you can get a Trapseat Spinnaker is at http://www.sail-s.com/main/cart-s/cart-s.html. Right now the Trapseat spinnakers are post as costing $1,500 for complete system (pole, spinnaker, etc.) but I do believe they have come down a little in price. Also www.sail-s.com where the Official Trapseat web site is located for now so you can also read articles about regattas where Trapseat spinnakers have been used. As noted in other posts of mine this site will soon have a Trapseat spinnaker section.

Just as a side note for those who care I am the US Trapseat rep and also the international coordinator for the Trapseat web site. I also of course race in the Trapseat class.