I am full of questions since this is my first catamaran! I appreciate all the help I've recieved so far. I have a 1981 H16 (great boat in great shape, solid) I will be sailing solo alot of the time and turtling is a concern for me any ideas on mast floatation at a reasonable cost?
The most important and cheap form of mast flotation is to make sure that the mast itself is sealed. This is absolutely necessary. With a sealed mast you should be able to recover from turning turtle - you still may not have enough weight to fully right the boat on your own, however - you may still want to investigate righting aids such as a bag or pole. However, if the mast fills with water you're screwed.
I bought a float for the top of my mast. It looks like a blimp in the hobie catalog. I won't be able to use it for racing and it prpobably slows up the boat anyway. There was a lot of discussion on this forum and perhaps the open forum on seal the mast. Search for "seal". Sailors described submerging the mast to detect leaks. As soon as the water is warm enough to step into I am going to test mine. Lightly pressurizing the mast was also described as a way to detect leaks. From what I read it seems imperative that you seal the mast or you risk turtling or the inability to right the boat.
Greg
1981 H16
H14
I put a float on my P16, the smaller one in the murray's catalog. I belive it is for the Hobie wave, but I fabricated brackets to fit my mast. It seems to help a lot with solo righting, it holds the mast and sail on top of the water instead of partially submurged. It also gives a peace of mind knowing I won't go turtle. The smaller float works great for my 16, probably not race legal and may slow me down a little.