I just purchased a project hobie 21 se from Florida. Needs lots of parts, I am having a few issues finding the back traveler car and the rudders. Does anybody have any experience with the back traveler? it is missing and I can't seem to find the right replacement, And the rudders are missing as well, I have the castings and tiller arms just no rudders. It is to my understanding that they had unique rudders? is this true or would a normal rudder from something like a hobie 18 work? And it came with a nice spinnaker just with no pole. Could someone show me a few pictures of their set up or point me to the right part of this forum that would have that information.
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me,

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Hobie 21 se,
North Carolina,
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I built my own rudders a decade ago and they work great.I can walk you through it if you want. I also am ready to make four new rudders sometime soon. One set is already spoken for and the other set was going to be a spare set.

Welcome to the 21 club.

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Bill 404 21SE
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Hobie Cat part # for traveler car is #31800001
Harken part #2780 which is a 22mm High-load 1250 car retails for $365

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Bill 404 21SE
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The rudder blades for the Hobie 21 were specific to the boat but have been out of production for many years. The “standard” rudder blades used on all the other Hobies will work (and are what is recommended as a replacement by Hobie) but are slightly smaller than the original H21 blades. I would definitely recommend using a fiberglass or carbon blade. The nylon/PCG/lexan blades will be way too flexible for the 21. I would not recommend making your own blades unless you have a very skilled hand. Getting the profile and cross-section correct would be critical to getting decent performance and not having the blades ventilate under load.

The main traveler used a standard Harken ball bearing traveler car with integrated cam cleat.

How old is the spinnaker? The H21 originally was fitted with a symmetrical spinnaker that ran on a bridle rigged between the bow tangs - no pole. The later boats incorporated a pole with the same spinnaker. And if you have a modern aftermarket assymetrical spinnaker then you definitely need a pole.

sm

Thank you for the replies, and the part numbers, I will probably just by the normal expo rudders and use them, as long as it won’t hurt performance to much, and the spinnaker is a very new aftermarket from Florida that appears to need a pole, it also came with a cool set of matching Mylar sails with a cool USA color set, they seem to be old and I was wondering how to tell when they are bad, I see a few bubbles in the materials but they are still stiff, I’ve only had experience with Dacron, I
Thanks,

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Hobie 21 se,
North Carolina,
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Quote

ylar sails with a cool USA color set, they seem to be old and I was wondering how to tell when they are bad, I see a few bubbles in the materials but they are still stiff,

mylar will degrade with time, use and exposure
dacron will last "forever" but continually stretch and lose shape

the (clear) outer layer will start to flake off and simply fail
the inner layers will rip and shred



Edited by MN3 on Apr 16, 2018 - 09:29 AM.

"Bubbles" in the material are a sign that the fabric is delaminating. The old Mylar sail cloth is made by bonding a layer of Mylar plastic to woven Dacron fabric. This gives the sail cloth strength and dimensional stability. Eventually the adhesive that is used to bond the two materials together breaks down and they separate. The bubbles are an indicator of the beginning of the end for the sail's life. If the delam is localized to a small area, you could have a sail maker cut out the bad and sew in a new panel, but it's kind of like dealing with delamination in a hull. Once it starts, there's not a whole lot you can do to stop it, so just sail it until it gets so bad that it's no longer safe and then throw it out.

sm

I 2nd a welcome to the Hobie 21 club! I don’t know if this helps or not. I got ahold of a well loved 21se last year and the sails are delaminating in some areas and tried a temporary fix using Tear-Aid Kite/Sail Repair Patch. The tear/aid patches seem to be working quite well. They are clear and stick very well and can be cut to fit.
As far as rudders go, someone back in to the boat and snapped the top off one rudder last summer and I ended up using a set of H20 rudders that worked very nicely. The H20 rudders are little smaller the the 21se rudders but bigger than the 18’s and Epo,s. My 21 rudders are fix now and I would be willing to sell the 20,s if your want to try them.
Good luck, you’ll love sailing the 21se!

I have a new red Dacron jib sail from Whirlwind. They also made me a red snorkel to cover my jib sail while stored at the club. Chip does great work.

So that means I have an extra all white dacron jib sail made by Randy Smyth. It's only issue is the window fabric had a tear that I tape over with some white sail tape. It looks alright. $250 buys that sail.

I replaced my original spinnaker last fall with an easy to use top down furling red spinnaker by Randy Smyth that I truly enjoy. My old spinnaker launched off the tramp from a bag. I found using that sail difficult to solo with so it was always left at home. This giant prosail spinnaker is available for sale $250. This sail has been used maybe 20 times in almost 30 years. It was purchased used after a prosail event in '89 and had some very small tape patches on it when I got it. It has a Salem cigarette logo on it.

My 21SE is still @ home this season as I am recovering from total knee replacement and lack the strength to handle my boat yet. Hopefully, I will be ready by the 50/50 'round the Island regatta this fall.

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Bill 404 21SE
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bill40421SE

Hobie Cat part # for traveler car is #31800001
Harken part #2780 which is a 22mm High-load 1250 car retails for $365

This was super helpful for me as a stgarting point. Quick update.
Harken "22 mm High-Load 1250 Car — Pivoting Sheaves, Swivel Cam"
was probably #2780 some time ago (I did not find anything when searching).
Newer part numbers for the same item include: 2738 & 2766

Sorry i'm so late picking this up. I have a spare traveler, but it has no balls. there's a tool and you need a new set of bearing balls to install it. The system is a linear ball bearing and the tool is used to load the balls when installing the traveler. The bearing balls are still available as is the tool.

Let me know if interested.

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Chuck C
NACRA 500 Mk2
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What else you need?

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Chuck C
NACRA 500 Mk2
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