I have a Hobie 18, and after not being able to sail solo due to much wind this weekend, I was wondering if anyone has thrown on a Hobie 14 mainsail and boom on their boat. Would it work? I understand downhaul would be problem. I dislike just sailing with the jib furled due to tacking ability in high wind, so I am just seeing if anyone has good ideas to avoid survival mode during high winds.

You may be able to make it work, not sure about the boom connections. I know the 16 and 14 are pretty compatible. That would really be a bit of a shame though that amount of sail would hardly push that bad boy. get a sailmaker to give you a reefing point for high winds.

And get the feel for tacking without a jib. A couple of hours spent and you won't worry about it anymore.

Keep the main centered and sheeted in. Stay on the rear windward side until you are through the eye of the wind +20 degrees and then move to the front beam on the other side. Blow a foot of sheet and reset, away you go. You blow it, reverse the rudders and push the boom over until you backwind to the right course.

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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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thanks for the reply, ill check into reefing points. I was considering it for 25 + mph wind conditions.

I had a nerve wrecking experience in my uni-rig last year not being able to tack back to shore in very strong gusts, kept getting stuck in the irons and couldnt reverse out.

Not sure about reef points on an 18, it is a tricky thing to do with a ring type locking main/halyard.
If you have a comp tip.. .forget it...

ryman522

I have a Hobie 18, and after not being able to sail solo due to much wind this weekend, I was wondering if anyone has thrown on a Hobie 14 mainsail and boom on their boat. Would it work? I understand downhaul would be problem. I dislike just sailing with the jib furled due to tacking ability in high wind, so I am just seeing if anyone has good ideas to avoid survival mode during high winds.

For high wind sailing where you are overpowered the ability to depower your sails is important but not always possible. If you have older "blown out" soft sails you won't be able to flatten them as neccessary.

With good sails, even dacron, you need a strong downhaul along with working outhaul and rotation limiter to depower. I agree that sailing the Hobie 18 with jib furled in high winds is a bad idea. Learn to depower, it's what the really powerful new boats do instead of reefing, and these are boats that are so powerful they can double-trap in 8mph wind.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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ryman522

thanks for the reply, ill check into reefing points. I was considering it for 25 + mph wind conditions.

I had a nerve wrecking experience in my uni-rig last year not being able to tack back to shore in very strong gusts, kept getting stuck in the irons and couldnt reverse out.

when tacking without the jib in strong winds it's often much safer to release the traveller and the mainsheet as you come around

much easier for the hulls to get across the wind if the whole rig weathervanes

and get the hulls well across the wind before SLOWLY bringing the traveller back to center