Perhaps. See pic. The boat sure felt right, and given that I had decided to not do the dolphin striker thing, this is as long as I felt comfortable going given the comments I had gotten from others who had added a spin to these boats.

Good point on why certain boat types owners have to experiment. In my case it was simply a matter of wanting to try something on the cheap. I new I wanted to trade up from the 18 to another boat, so a big expenditure for new kit didn't fit my plans. I'd rather spend that money on another boat! I wasn't looking for the perfect set-up, but I wanted to learn what was involved and experience sailing a spin cat without worrying about busting up a new boat. Hobie does sell kits for these boats, but I'm not confident they're "right" - witness the short pole.

Poor support - true, true. I'm currently trying to get some info on spin set-ups for my H-20. I've found more people that have done it to this design, but info again is from roundabout type sources. It would be great to simply get a guide form Hobie, and some kind of feel for how the boat works with what they are selling.

But more to the point for me - the tinkering was almost as much fun as sailing the boat afterward! Learned a bunch. It might have a junkyard dog look in some ways, oh well.

Inspiration for the whole 18 thing came when I came into the posession of a windsurfer mast. Sure looks like a spin pole to me...

Search for a sail turned up a Hobie-18 SX spinnaker in great shape. The hard part truly was trying to find ANY information on how a stock Hobie-18 spin should be rigged. Halyard height? Sheet location?

I deduced the measurements from a variety of hints and sources. I went with a longer pole than "stock" again with the option to try longer.

Anyway, the one thing I did know for sure (from sailing sailing and inspection) is that sheeting point needed to go forward a bit from the pole being longer.

But - Hobie does sell kits for their boats. It's just that there is no OD racing for them, so people will be just as tempted to experiment as to buy the kit. I decided to experiment...

Cheers,
Keith
Keith