All,

Here is my report on the FX-1 from Hobie Cat. The impressions below come from my sailing the current production 17'-18' uni rig cats with daggerboards over the last 5 years. I tried very much to keep it straight to the point. This report is only my opinion and my views may not be shared by all readers. After just coming off an A class, I feel very comfortable with this report and the performance of the FX-1.



Bob Curry





Tacking:



The boat tacks and reacts very much like an A cat, just turn the tiller over and quickly get to the other side! I tried both leaving the sheet tension on and slightly easing it during the tacks. The boat responded better to a slight ease. In the 8-10kts of breeze, I found a slight roll tack best. This boat easily out-tacks the current uni rig production boats in the 17-18’ class.



Gybing:



Again, just like the A cat! A nice gentle arc produced the fastest speed out of the gybe.



Upwind:



The FX-One responded best to the traveler down about 2-4”with the outhaul slightly eased and the downhaul down just a bit (wrinkles out). My weight (168lbs) was right at the daggerboard and I was able to fly the trapeze easily. Every control line was sensibly located and easy to adjust. The boat reacts very well to puffs and accelerates better than the other current production lines. The mainsail could be a tad bit fuller up top for most US conditions.



Downwind:



Even though a bit heavier than the A class, this boat shares the same wide-groove characteristics of the wave piercing A cats. It accelerated smoothly and I was able to keep it in the groove for a long stretch without much attention. I was able to wildthing in puffs 10kts and greater.



How it looks…



This is the sexiest production boat I’ve ever seen! The wave piercing angled bows really shed the water and handle waves like a hot knife through butter. There is plenty of hull volume so it is not weight sensitive.



Overall Impression



This one is easy; it is a production version of the popular A class! Combined with a chute, this boat will really be a performer!! I could easily move it around on the beach with CatTrax which is a plus. Even though I spent about an hour and a half sailing, I can't wait to do it again and I'm very stoked this boat came along!!

how hard is it to get an FX-one in the states? The hobie dealer here in NC still likes his getaways and waves.

Talk to Brad (www.sunjammers.com) in Panama City, Fl or Kirk at KeySailing in Pensacola, Fl. I think the FL guys will work with you. Brad is sailing in the Mega and you will probably have to wait to talk with him until the weekend.

Bob

Great report Bob! Is the boat you tested going to stay in the Panhandle, or is it going elsewhere?



I was wondering in your trial if you happened to capsize the boat; because I'm curious to know whether the boat is as difficult to right as the I17R.



I can right mine by really getting out on the daggerboards, but I'm afraid one of these times I'll have a daggerboard break.



Additionaly, I was wondering if you had experimented with any of the "righting poles" that are on the market?



Thanks for your time posting your feedback on the FX-1. It looks like a smart entry for Hobie into the Uni market.



I haven't looked into the DPN's on the boat, but I would think it should race pretty close to head-to-head with the I17R.



Mark MacNeil

I17R - USA110

Hi Bob- It is great to hear such an enthusiastic report on the FX-1. Please don't take this as mean spirited; I just think it will put your report in finer focus and remove some doubts some people may have. 1. Are you in any way involved in the distribution/class building effort of the class? 2. Why have you left the A Class? 3. Have you sailed the comparables such as the Inter 17R? Again, I mean no disrespect, just curious.

Jim,



I'll try my best to answer your questions..



1. I am not involved with the Hobie Co. or the class.

I do thank the Co. for letting me sail their boat at their dealer meeting.

2. I'm too rough (sail them hard) on the boats I own and I've always needed a "bulletproof" platform.

3. I've sailed the 5.5 Uni and I17R (downwind w/o chute) for the comparison.



Thanks for your questions for clarification!



Bob

Hey Mark!!



I think Sunjammers will have the boat. Since I was on a short leash (time constraint), I could not test the righting aspect. Time will tell what really works. The FX-1 rates 72.1 w/o chute so do the math!!



Bob

Thanks for the reply. While I enjoy racing with a crew, I grew up on one man boats and enjoy the element of either winning or losing on my own merits. I think one of the worst things I hear in sailing is skippers blaming the crew for a bad finish. I am thinking of adding a one man (person) boat to the flotilla and I appreciate the input from this forum.

Bob, is the FX 1 a spinaker boat? I thought it was but you did not mention that in your evaluation. Also, how much does it weigh? What is the class minimum wt. for skipper? Thanks.

Bob,



Check my math and my assumptions on what the "SP" means on the multihull tables: 72.1-.972=71.13 DPN for the FX-1 with spinnaker.



Using the FX-1 finish time of 30 minutes::



FX-1: ct=30/71.13*100=42.18



With the FX-1 sailing 30 minutes therefore the I17R must

sail the same race in 28.09 minutes (x/66.6*100=42.18)

approx. 1 minute and 54 seconds faster (30-28.09=1.91).



Is your initial impression from sailing the boat match with this difference or is there simply not enough data yet to check a comparison?



Mark MacNeil

I17R USA110



PS: Of course if you were to get an FX-1 I would expect you to concede the 1m54s (and maybe a few more) and race boat for boat!

I did feel the boat is much faster in the transitions (tacking/gybing) and acceleration from a dead stop like on a starting line. There is really no data to do a good comparison at this time. If Brad has one with the chute, I'd like to spend a day in PC sailing your I17R and the FX for data gathering.



Bob

Hi Bob,



I also posted this on the other thread where weight was being discussed.



I weighed my FX-One using fairly accurate scales:



Total Weight (Uni-Configuration, no jib, no spinnaker) = 313 lbs (About 11 lbs lighter than Texel is reporting)



Breakdown:





Basic Platform (Hulls, Crossbar, Trampoline) 198

Mast (With spreaders and main halyard) 44

Steering System (Rudders, pins, slave bar, tiller ext) 25

Mainsail (w/ battens, boom, mainsheet& block, cunningham) 21

Dagger Boards 20

Rigging (Sidestays, forestay, 1 trapeze set) 5



Total 313



Jib Kit (Jib, upper and lower furler, halyard, blocks & jib sheet) 8



Steve Bellavia

Sources :



http://www.hobiecat.com/fx1.html



http://www.hobiecat.com/pdf/fxone.pdf



Quote 275 lbs = 125 kg's. for the FX-one without a spi



With your post we may conclude that the (newer and lighter?) FX-one is a shy 40 lbs above quoted weight.



I think that that was the main point of the thread.



I held back on several posts as I am obviously involved with a direct competitor of the FX-one; but this time the urge was to great. With activities like this I wouldn't be surprised if the boats measured by ISAF and Texel were unintentionally heavier than expected.



Flame me all you want too.



Wouter

Hi Wouter,



Not to forgive or condone Hobie, but they all lie. I purchased a brand new Beneteau 23.5 foot racer-cruiser monohull that was advertised as 2300 lbs, and actually weighed 3300 lbs. But what's 1000 lbs amongst friends?



I was told by the Hobie dealer that the weight (ca), as shown in your second URL (PDF file) is the "weight capacity", ie, the crew weight. Other borchures have shown 298 lbs as the weight of the boat, which would make my boat 15 lbs heavier than advertised.



All-in-all, it's still 60 lbs lighter than the boat I just sold, and lighter than an I-17 or Hobie 17 and very close to a 5.5Uni with Carbon mast and foils.



Looking at the breakdown, it's obvious (to me) that they need to spend a little more engineering time with that steering system (25 lbs - yikes!). Some immediate "remedies" could be to elimate the solid rudder pins and go to hollow stainless tube (about a .5 lb saved) and make the slave bar carbon tubing (another 1 lb maybe). Numerous lightening holes in the castings would help too. Also a carbon mast would go a long way to improving performance and knock another 15 lbs from the total. Carbon daggerboards should have been standard. (Another 10 lbs). But of course, a little late to do that now.



But I'm very happy with the boat



Steve

If I was in the market for a FX-1, I'd really be concerned about this weight discrepancy between what the owners are weighing in the field vs. what the manufacturer is claiming.



I went through the same thing when I owned a P-19. The class minimum was 385 lbs. but we saw new boats typically in the 395-415 lb. range. Most competitive sailors in any sailing class strive to get their boats to the class minimum weight and it's kinda hard to get there when the manufacturer is building boats 20-30 lbs heavier than the class minimum weight.



If I bought an FX-1 and found my boat to be 36 lbs. heavier than what it is supposed to be, I would ask for my money back! That's 13% heavier than the class minimum!!!!

Its good to hear you are happy with the boat.



And that is all that is important.



Wouter

...If you continue to get all mushy and nice like this, we're going elsewhere for "strong criticism" :P

A little bit scary isn't it.



Fair winds to you too.



Wouter

I though you all might be interested in the actual FX-one class rules regarding crew weight and boat wieght. The boat weight includes spinnaker gear. That makes it sound like Steven's boat is spot on. I doubt the spinnaker gear weighs fourteen pounds, so he'll be a few pounds light. In my opinion that is perfect. You carry a little lead when the boat is new then after a few years and a few repairs you still have a minimum weight boat.



8. MINIMUM CREW WEIGHT

The Hobie FX-ONE shall have a minimum

combined crew weight of 72 kg (158.73 lbs.).



9. MINIMUM BOAT WEIGHTS

The minimum weight of a Hobie FX-ONE,

completely assembled with spinnaker and

running gear shall be 148.5 kg (327.39 lbs). See

Rule #19 of the General Rules.

Can you provide me with a link to the FX-one One-design calss rules ?



Then I will send these rules to the ISAF and Texel Committees and request a remeasuring of the boats or the demand that the class weights are used in the calculation of the rating numbers.



Wouter

I got it at the NAHCA web site under the "race managment" section. It is in PDF format so it requires the Adobe reader. It also includes the class rules for all of the currently raced Hobies. The FX-one is on page 17. Here is the Link:

http://www.nahca.org/resources/resources.htm



George

it took me about 6 weeks to get my boat here to the Virgin islands.....from France to Calif to Puerto Rico and then here to St Croix...kinda like going around the block to get across the street,,,,,,i have had a great times with mine,,,,,

take a look at the resulats form this years round Texel....Glen Ashby finished 52nd on an FX-One and another finished 72nd .the closest I-17 was 115.....yeah yeah I know you are saying welllllll it was Glen Ashby....but those are the stats,,

mmmmm....I just looked at the FX-One class rules,,,,calls for the main to be 153.93 sq ft...the Hobie site shows 172 and Texel has it at 160.....

Wouter

How about this ?



In 1999 Glen Ashby (+Chris Chester) finished as 8th on a spi less Taipan 4.9 !



Second spi-less Taipan 4.9 in that same race was Steve Brewin and Helen Sharrock at place 9 !!



First I-17 spi was 151 th than.



Apparently the I-17 are getting faster but Glenn on a different boat isn't.



These (yours and mine) are all corrected time results ofcourse



Vicatman, I'm just puling your chain a bit here but all in good respect. I expect a return from you and am anxious to see if you can "up" me one. All in good taste ofcourse.



Wouter

I just read the rules and clearly it says.



"A comptip shall be mandatory for the North American Region with the exception of the hobie Tiger, which shall be raced worldwide with an aluminium mast."



Will somebody hand the steel saw to Steven please ?



Wouter

I'm not one to get very excited about hardware (It's racing that I love) and not as qualified to comment on it as Bob Curry but I did sail the FX-1 at the Mega. I thought it was a very cool boat. What I do find exciting is the prospect that this boat could bring thoes who are into hardware together with thoes who's first priority is one design fleet racing to form a strong class....That would be very cool....Dan

The Hobie 16 got second on corrected time. How did the 4.9 do this year along with the I-17? Just playing!

well I wont be racing in the states then,,,as my FX-One doesnt have a comptip.....oH WElllll

Hobie needs to fire its attorney and drop the comptip. The comptip was a lawyer's response to somebody electrocuting themselves --- as if today's lawyers couldn't get around that "design" change in court.



I sailed a H20 for years with no comptip problem -- others have not been so fortunate. But, moreover -- the comptip just really is not necessary. No other builder of a sailboat has ever been sued over somebody frying themselves. I still think that the courts have a few more smarts than that. If your dumb enough not to read all the stickers and still fry yourself then it was just a case of suicide by powerpole.



Steve

Hi again,



The Class rules for the FX-One states at the very top (of page 17) "NOTE: THE HOBIE CLASS GENERAL RULES WITH THE EXCEPTION OF RULE 13.4 ARE PART OF THESE RULES". Genereal Rule13.4 is the COMPTIP required in North America Rule.



Steve

Hobie FX-One Hull#202, Sail #211

hey Steve ...I just read the exception to the comptip on the FX-One rules......maybe next year there will be a class for the FX-One.....

Let me pre-empt my following statement by saying that I would currently consider myself impartial about the comptip on Hobie catamarans but that I would prefer to not have one on my racing cat. Referencing the recent Catamaran Sailor article where two guys were electrocuted while moving an old Hobie 16 without a comp tip, I do wonder though how you address the claim that Hobie has had no reported electrocutions on boats equipped with them. That statement sure made me reconsider my position against the comp tip.

No Jake, My statement was "No company has ever been sued .... ". People do not so wise things everyday. Most of us are very responsible people and don't play with electricity. The stickers are on the mast for a "legal" reason and that should be enough. I have seen a person sail a 40+ foot monohull into a powerline -- so stupidity is not just limited to us few catsailors. When was the last time you saw a monohull with a comptip???



I really have never had a problem with mine -- I just think it is a poor solution to a legal problem and would rather sail the boats as there are designed to be used not "advised" to be built for legal reasons.



just my 2 cents.

Steve

Hey Bob,

As long as everyone else is getting off the subject let me ask you a question. Have you ever riden an Isotope? I was somewhat surprised at your opinion of the A-class boats not being as "bulletproof" as the dealer had boasted. It also seems you have a what a single handed boat should/shouldn't be. I often read posts about single handed boats thinking that if the poster's don't understand the difference between having crew and being at one with a boat.



J.P. the Terrible

Isotope 186 the shark boat

I am almost ashamed to tell this story but about 2 weeks ago we were walking our H16 on cat traxs at a new sailing site/park. I had looked up more than once to make sure there were no power-lines (it’s a habit), even though I knew this site had no visible power lines, as I had check when we got there. A neighbor by the park offered to let us keep our boat in his field; I look at the field and could see no power-lines, so we walked the boat over to the field. Once in the field I felt a shock in my right arm, I looked immediately at the ground as I thought there must be some type of underground power-line, don’t ask me about the logic of this thought, but in my mind I knew there were no overhead power-lines. So, I yelled to my wife to let go of the boat and I started to look everywhere, then finally I looked up and sure enough a small power like was hitting one of my shrouds and a larger power line was hitting my comptip. The power line was conveniently hidden in a line of trees on this property. I was thankful that day for a comptip as I was sure it prevented a large amount of power from running down my mast and through my body. I was also thankful for my plastic coated shrouds. I was actually holding the bridle wire with my hand and part of my hand was on the exposed part of the wire.



So, I can deal with the comptip masts as anyone can get caught off guard. I have heard of accidents with power-lines from very intelligent sailors but now I know first hand that it can happen to me to. Also junior and youth sailors are not as experienced as most of us and seems to me a comptip is a good idea for them as well.

While I enjoy speaking to the couple that make the Isotopes, I've seen more than one buckle in heavy seas. They are light, but perhaps to light.

An Isotope is light but all stress loads are kept in check. If you compair them to a H-16, H-17, H-18, they may not be bulletproof. I honestly think they get a bad rap when someone purchases a 10 to 20 year old boat then hits the mighty blue in above 15 knot winds without upgrading rigging, sails, or gear. There are old boats that still race and win that do not flex in waves.

By the way Isotopes run with a total 185sq ft of soft sail that can be in the jib or main. We feel that this rule allows for experimentation. Several sailors switched to squared topped sails with different levels of success but as a fleet we decided that the sails were within guidlines and the sailors deserved any added performance without any handicapping. I read page after page on legalities on what makes sails legal. I think that offering a TOTAL square footage could offer more options for the Formula classes. Maybe the last thing they need is more options.



Oh hey, I agree with you Frank and Rhoda are the greatest.



J.P. the Terrible

Isotope 186

I worry sometimes that I'm gonna break my H17 in some of the stuff I like to sail in... to each his own I suppose.



I saw Frank and Rhonda at the Annapolis boat show this past weekend, I was going to say hi, but I feel a bit guilty after seriously considering an isotope then going with a hobie.