Just wondering how many of you guys out there are Hobie 17 sailors?

Nige

*raises hand*.. oh oh me me!

I'm loyal to my 17 even though she gets accused of being slow by my fellow catamaran sailors.

I still consider myself a 17 sailor. I recently competed on a 17 at the Hobie Midwinters East after 10 years of not sailing one. Boy was I sore on Sunday morning!! Great boat!

Bob

why do you ask?

As you can see my email is me@hobie17.com would there be any support if I also set up a Hobie17 website where we could post pictures, articles etc? Or maybe a Hobie17 Yahoo Group as posting files, pix seems reliable with them too. Just some ideas to get us 17 guys together, share ideas and have our "own place".

Hear, hear from another H17 sailor hailing from the frozen tundra of Minnesota! Would be interesting to have more opportunities for discussions amongst us regarding mods, tune ups, etc. Seems I recall there being some active and large H17 fleets on the east coast. Will do some checking and see if I can find a link to one of their sites for the rest of you.

Good to see comments from Bob Curry in this string. Hey Bob, where are you at these days? Bob sold me a nothing but "phenominal" square top Sabre sail for my H17 last year. The guy knows his stuff. Really makes that boat get up and move. Makes it tough whenever I need to put up the stock sail.

Sail fast, Tom G

Tom...You are correct in that there is a good group of H17 sailors out here in the east coast. We don't however have a website dedicated to the class. We just send emails back and forth. It would aid communication greatly if we did have a place to go and post messages. If Nige has the ability to set something up that would be great. This site has forums already dedicated to specific classes. Maybe we could petittion Rick to set one up for us. It is his show however and I have no idea what is involved.
By the way, see the NAHCA site for the 2003 CC Notice of race..Dan

Nigel, We had 43 H-17's at the MEGA. High sail number was 6406 so there are a lot of us out there. The sails are numbered by Hobie as they are built, but does not equal the number of boats. My hull number is 137, a very early 1986 model, but I have had four sails.

I do not see the need for a separate forum, plenty of posts here for the H-17. We can all learn from the other comments.

Caleb Tarleton H-17 # 6185

Since I've got the attention of all the H17 sailors out there, can somone please draw up a diagram or description as to how to setup the mast over-rotation bungee thingamajig. I've seen the kit on murrays, but the picture did not explain how the thing works.

Thanks

Oh and btw, you guys are going to salivate when you see my newly refinished hulls. I'm told that they shine so much, you can brush your teeth in the reflection.

The mast rotator system most of us use and I believe your seeing in the Murrays catalog is very simple but effective when setup properly. I'm not sure how to attach a picture so I will try to describe it. First the rig has to be loose enough for the mast to rotate freely to about 10 degrees forward of the beam. A light line is tied to the end of the rotator arm, run around the front of the mast through a micro block and tied to the rotator arm on the other side. This loop is pulled forward by a length of shock chord ( I use 1/4" ) which is looped from one bridle adjuster through the micro block to the other bridle adjuster. The tension in the shock chord pulls on both sides of the loop of line attached to the rotator with equal force but as the mast rotates one side wraps around the mast while the other side pulls on the extended end of the rotator arm. The longer lever arm provided by the rotator arm causes the mast to rotate. You may have to play with the tension in the shock chord some to get it working right but once you have it right it works great and you never have to touch it while sailing...Dan

Nigel, I don't know how many of us there are, but I know at least a couple of guys in Division Twelve got 17's last year. I haven't raced yet, but hope to. I will probably race Open Class With the boomless square top main. There is a really strong 17 class in New Jersey. Last year at The Buzzard Regatta in New Bedford Mass. they all showed up with new boats! The racing class was dwindling in New England, and veteran sailors like Ted Knowlton were considering new boats for solo racers. Hopefully there is a growing class once again! Though I'd like to have all you other Square Tops and jibs to race with! As far as the web-site, it would be fun to have a place to post our pictures etc...Otherwise, I am very happy coming here every day! Brian

Hi,

Well I have set up the new Hobie 17 group.

It will take awhile to gain momentum, but I'm sure it will be fun and informative for all sailors, in particular...the Hobie 17 guys, but Hey!!...everyone is welcome....let's make this a great group.

Of course, at anytime ideas or suggestions are welcome....might even work on a Website with links and things.

Join now and be one of the Founding Members of this group..

To Join select the "Join This Group" are on the RHS about 1/4 down from the top of screen

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hobie17

or select ther following link....

hobie17-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Hope to see you at the new group soon

Nige