I've prepping my 21SE for flying the spinaker that came with it, but I have some doubts about the setup. I've got a lot of line ordered, so if I need to make any changes, now is the time!
The boat came witha trentec pole that appears to have been modified to mount on the striker rod without the "lower gudgeon" on the front crossbar.
While it seems unlikely that I can find the original parts, could anyone recommend a alternative mounting solution? I'm trying to figure this thing out, so any insights as to what's best adapted from other boats I would love to hear about it. Lots of pics attached for the sake of conversation...
I see the line routing in the original hobie kit, but I instead have a separate halyard, a tack line that feeds through the pole and exits out the tip, and a loop of guy lines terminate in the same tip the tack exits from.
If there is a better routing, I'd love to learn from someone else's experience instead of the trial and error method!
Never setup a spinnaker on my 21SE, but that's coming... Kind of confused about routing those green lines through blocks after going through the tangs at the bow. Would've thought the pole would be attached to the bridle wires, like typical then the green lines terminate at the tangs and used to add pre-bend/stability to the pole.
I'd be leery about attaching anything foreign to the dolphin striker, but must've worked well enough for the P.O.... Following closely.
+1 with Charlescarlis.
The spin will lift the pole tip. You need to preload it from the bridle enough to pretty much lift the boat by the pole tip. This should unload your striker/pole retention line. It is only there to keep the pole in place prior to preload. I would not recommend loading the striker with anything, but truly it will probably be fine unless you take on R2AK or the Everglades Challenge.
Yes... I'm confused too! I've never seen a cat pole set up like this with adjustable guys instead of a fixed pole bridled to the forward tangs. I flew a few symmetical balloons in the previous millenium, and I've been scratching my head to figure the geometry of the guy lines. I suspect this was originally set up with a baloon and a pole that could be swung a bit to windward, hence the need for tiliting and rotation at the crossbar.
Or maybe they used it for full contact boat jousting?! I hear the rules were different in the prosail days.
Well, ya know, I've already rigged a third trapeze. My record for the H18 is 30.1 mph. Three adults on these wings oughta be worth taking precautions on the rigging.
I've had 3 adults on mine in a blow and didn't feel the need to trap out with the wings...but, I was trying to survive, so your courage may vary... It was remarkably stable and predictable with 3 in high winds. Surprisingly so, never felt I couldn't de-power enough, nor did the boat get squirrely. Once you figure out your spin setup, please post it. God's Luck on some stupid runs!
I have done spins on cats since 1989.. I have done the trial and error.. break it and repeat. It appears this was designed and rigged before Hobie came out with a kit.
I would suggest against the pole butt on the dolphin striker. I would install a 1/4" bolt on the butt of the pole facing outward then drill a 1/4" hole in the front beam centered. Stick the bolt in the hole and pole is attached. Majority of the load is compression.
There are two ways to run a chute on a beach cat; low and slow or high and fast. Most of the old school boats do better with low and slow. I see what they did on the adjustable whisker stays and I would change them to fixed piece of Dyneema. There was an idea years ago of moving the pole back and forth to bring the pole tip to windward. This idea can be effective, but it gives too many chances for error. Keep It Simple...
There are pros/cons for having separate tack and halyard and for having them combined. If you run a snuffer, the combined tack/halyard does better. Dropping the chute on the tramp, I have used both methods and prefer having them separate. I have had times where I wanted the halyard down, but keep the tack tight to stream the chute out. This is a personal preference on which works best for you.
At some point, you'll need to go out, break some poles, shred a chute or two and learn what works and what doesn't.
-- Scott
Prindle Fleet 2
TCDYC
Prindle 18-2 Mod "FrankenKitty"
Tornado Classic "Fast Furniture"
Prindle 19 "Mr. Wiggly"
Nacra 5.8 "De ja vu"
Nacra 5.0
Nacra 5.8
Tornadoes (Reg White) --
Clearly that is kilometers per hour. The only 18 foot production catamarans that can do 30 miles per hour are fully foiled, and very light weight. The Hobie 18 is not one of them.
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
I've had FrankenKitty at 26.4 knots; basically a 10' wide P 18-2. It does get sketchy over 24 on her where the Tornado is a lot more stable. With that, Franken is built out of 10 different catamaran designs; mainly production boats.
-- Scott
Prindle Fleet 2
TCDYC
Prindle 18-2 Mod "FrankenKitty"
Tornado Classic "Fast Furniture"
Prindle 19 "Mr. Wiggly"
Nacra 5.8 "De ja vu"
Nacra 5.0
Nacra 5.8
Tornadoes (Reg White) --
