Hey Everyone,
I just got back from 2 days of the best sailing I've had since I got my Nacra 5.2 this spring! Saturday we were out for about 5 hours in 15 knots and today we were out for only a couple of hours in 20+ knots! I know for a lot of people here that is normal wind, but on my small 10 km by 10 km lake that was amazing.

Now I know why I bought this boat. It handled like a dream and felt like it could have handled way more wind. Unfortunately I`m a relative beginner and an old man to boot with a similar crew and we could barely handle it (the boat was outsailing us)! It never felt like it was out of control though and it never even threatened to pitchpole! I wouldn't have even attempted going out in this much wind with our old H16 when I was a kid.

A weekend like this really reinforces that I bought the right boat at the right time, despite the people who tried to sell me on a hobie wave or a much smaller boat. This is the type of sailing I lived for as a kid and the type I want to do now!

Just thought I would share. Now I`m off to find the Ben Gay and Robaxacet! Apparently Bengay is a dirty word on here?! :)

Regards,
Dave





edited by: Wolfman, Sep 20, 2009 - 09:24 PM

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

They are a blast. Smooth and stable. What I love about them is the way you can drive them hard in choppy conditions without pitchpole worries. You are correct however that they can run away with you if you let them. You start to get cocky and they bite you.

Just remember to travel out, flatten the sail in big air and don't cleat in.

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I just got back from 2 days of the best sailing I've had since I got my Nacra 5.2 this spring! Saturday we were out for about 5 hours in 15 knots and today we were out for only a couple of hours in 20+ knots! I know for a lot of people here that is normal wind, but on my small 10 km by 10 km lake that was amazing.

20 is a lot of air for any sailboat.. don't let anyone tell you otherwise... 15 is a lot... 20 is a wild time (if you can keep it stick up.. then its usually a blast)

Congrats and enjoy. glad you had a great time in good conditions with good gear!

Thanks guys! I`m feeling all proud of myself, good advice about getting cocky too!

Oh I forgot to mention, the highlight of the weekend was flying past an island and surprising a naked couple sunning on the rocks. :) Doesn`t get much more hilarious than that.

D.

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

Had a similar experience on my 5.2 a week ago. It finally blew (12-15) and the boat flew. Wife got out on the wire. I was about to do the same when the main crumpled all of a sudden. We had to limp back to the ramp.

Turns out the headboard had completely separated from the head of the sail. Apparently, the aluminum rivets were mostly disintegrated and when we finally got some wind the halyard grommet just pulled through the upper 1/4inch or so of sail. Thought it was going to be an expensive sail repair but all the rivet holes were intact, and the Elliot sails guy just told me to go ahead and re-rivet the thing (I guess the grommet doesn't add much in the way of strength).

The sails were crisp and clean when I bought the boat so I never checked the rivets closely. My mistake. Just thought I'd remind everyone else with a 20 year old boat to check theirs.





edited by: RLC, Sep 22, 2009 - 06:58 PM

20 is sort of the redline for us (Hobie 18 magnum). Usually (though not always) on Barnegat Bay in the summer the 20+ wind is south to SSW, which is longitudinal and makes for a long fetch, so we get big rollers coming up the bay which drive the power boats (and even the cowards on big monohulls that can stand up to a lot more) into the coves, giving us wide open spaces for nice 2 mile reaches across the wind. The problems is that at 20+, things happen fast, and things can break, so once it gets much over that we tend to take a few runs and quit while we're ahead.

The worst incident we had was on Rehoboth Bay in Delaware on a Hobie 16 in what must have been 25-30, when we must have hit something in the water and one rudder assembly got pulled out of the transom. That was our last day out for that trip!

same here on the alloy sail head rivets on my 5.2 sail, found a few bad and replaced this spring. part of this winter's scheduled maintenance will be going over all the rest

boats made in the 70's and 80's now have had a lot of use

we buy them cheap and sail them gently for a year or two and as our confidence grows we go out in stronger winds with heavier loads with the predictable results of 20+ year old; rudder blades snapping, blocks seizing, sails tearing, stays snapping, tramps ripping, hulls collapsing etc.

i figure i can take my 27 year old 5.2 out in big winds on a small lake by myself and have an adequate reserve of material limits........some of my rigging looks to have come from the factory!

but taking along a big crew member in winds that might require both of us on the wire is just asking too much of all those old bits, the weakest is almost bound to let go

it's not even really practical to try and rebuild an old cat by pouring money into it as the limit then becomes the old glass hulls, dagger wells and fatigued alloy beams

so imho the smart thing is to treat them with enough respect that they will continue to provide enjoyment for another 10 years




edited by: erice, Sep 22, 2009 - 07:39 PM

erice

it's not even really practical to try and rebuild an old cat by pouring money into it as the limit then becomes the old glass hulls, dagger wells and fatigued alloy beams

so imho the smart thing is to treat them with enough respect that they will continue to provide enjoyment for another 10 years

You're probably right. I've replaced my running rigging, the tramp, scrutinized the standing rigging and blocks, and gone over most everything else pretty closely, but ya gotta know with a boat this old you'll miss something, and of course that will be the piece to fail (I'm looking at you, beam straps)

On the other hand, I figure I'd want to push a brand new Infusion pretty hard once I got the hang of it. So I ask myself, would I rather break a boat I didn't pay much for or end up crying in my beer over my once beautiful, now trashed multi-thousand dollar machine?

Well, of course the truth is I'd still love to have the F18. But for the time being I'm pretty happy with the boat I've got, and your suggestion to respect its age makes a lot of sense.

Maybe I need to go over the standing rigging one more time.

RLC

But for the time being I'm pretty happy with the boat I've got, and your suggestion to respect its age makes a lot of sense.

Maybe I need to go over the standing rigging one more time.

If you don't know the last time your standing rigging was replaced, it is time to replace it. Especially if the boat has seen saltwater. My rigging looked very nice and then I had a trap cable break mid-wire under a perfectly good looking rubber coating, my wife didn't like that swim

If you are in enough wind to need/want to trap out, you should know the last time you replaced the standing rigging

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

In the 17 years (yikes!!!) that we've had our Hobie 18, I have replaced the side stays 3 or 4 times, the trapeze wires 2 or 3, and the fore stay once (this year). The most surprising failure we had was when an anchor pin for a shroud sheared off from metal fatigue, when it was less than 10 years old, I think. I've replaced those twice just for safe-keeping.

smfinley

If you don't know the last time your standing rigging was replaced, it is time to replace it.

I know you're right. But I keep looking at these cables that are clean, no frays, no rust, no kinks and thinking there would have to be some sign of wear before a failure. I suppose that's probably what a lot of people are thinking just before the mast comes down.

I replaced all the pins when I replaced the cables, this time. They had grooves worn in them and thought it was time. Not to say there aren't other failure points with my name on it, but hopefully it is not the standing rigging.

RLC

But I keep looking at these cables that are clean, no frays, no rust, no kinks and thinking there would have to be some sign of wear before a failure. I suppose that's probably what a lot of people are thinking just before the mast comes down.

I actually bet most people that loose a mast haven't thought about their rigging in a while. The unfortunate ones are the people that know enough to think about it but didn't replace it.

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm looking at replacing my shrouds and forestay for next season now. Has anyone tried some of that composite rigging? I've been reading a bit about boats that use Amsteel rigging lately.

Regards,
Dave

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

On the subject of replacing standing rigging, anyone do their own?

I walk by the swaging tools and cable all the time in Lowe's and I like the idea of saving some money, doing it more often and knowing exactly what I've got. Guess I need to look into the materials more closely.

Yeah, I just got the Swage it tool but didn't realize that it doesn't do 5/32" wire! Guess I will be stuck just making my own trapeze wires and halyards. Provided I stay with wire halyards, I have been thinking of going with rope composite halyards.

My local sailmaker made me a new halyard this year and the swaging tool didn't look terribly difficult to use, just put two ovals instead of one for extra piece of mind.

D.

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

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so imho the smart thing is to treat them with enough respect that they will continue to provide enjoyment for another 10 years

i disagree (shocking i know) sail hard.. die fast! sail them till the cry and scream.. nothing more satisfying than seeing a mast break, hull explode and sails catch fire at maximum velocity....


(kidding)

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My rigging looked very nice and then I had a trap cable break mid-wire under a perfectly good looking rubber coating, my wife didn't like that swim

coated cables are well known to be heavly rusted inside.. i never use coated cables but purchase covers that can slide up and down to prevent sail chafe

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Provided I stay with wire halyards, I have been thinking of going with rope composite halyards

For halyards, there is no issue with high tech line. but for stays...there are creep issues with HM lines (high modulus) like dyneema and similar.. unless you go with a new type Dyna Dux where the creep is greatly reduced (by heating and stretching) you will be re-tightning your stays every time (or often)... Also.. there is a risk of some jerk saying.. look.. he has string there (and cut it)....

Also the dyne dux smallest diamiter is 5mm i think.. and that would be serious overkill (you could lift a house with that)...