I was wondering what anyone thought of putting an H16 mast, boom and sail on a getaway, making the appropriate mod to accept the mast of course. I thought it might be a good way to keep most of the desirable features of the getaway and get a mit more speed out of it. Does this sound reasonable?
Maybe Hobie could do something like this from the factory. Maybe they could start putting a mast with the boat (even if it is the same length as the current sail) that could accept a boom and wider sail to give the option to sail this way or not. Seems like it's a trivial modification as long as the wider sail does not throw the boat off balance when sailing. You'd get a few more sq feet of sail area and holpefully more power.

thoughts...

That kind of defeats the purpose of the boat. It is designed to be a fun cruiser with minimal rig adjustment to make it easy to setup.

In my opinion, when the wind is blowing over 15mph flatout, H16's and Getaways are very similar in speed. It is only in light wind when there is a big difference.

I disagree that it defeats the purpose of the boat. True, it will add a step to the rigging, but you will retain all the other features of the boat like the high floatation, foward tramp, wings, coolers in hulls, etc... .

The purpose of adding a boom is not just to give the bottom of the sail some stiffness, but to allow a wider sail than the current one used (within limits of the boat design), giving extra sail area and extra power. A boomless rig limits the width of the sail to be between the mast and foward of the main traveler.

I was thinking the mod would be something extra and the original boomless configuration would still be available by using the original sail. The mast would simply have a slot to add a boom. You would need a wider sail to use the boom which you could purchase as an extra part giving you 2 different sails, thus the way to get extra power (boom and wider sail). This is why I called it a "getaway sport" and not a totally different boat. If you want to cruise you can go boomless. If you want to fly a hull and go fast or race you can put on the boom and the wider sail.

Does anyone have any idea if a wider sail, say 1 foot wider at the base, would make much difference? How about adding a boom?

Greg

Yet another object for a fun-loving crew member to hit his or her head on. Anytime the draft of the sail is moved, there is an impact either positive or negative.

I just think it is a dumb idea. If you want a boom, but a Hobie 16 for $1500-$2500.

good lord! - tell us what you really think!

Ok...

If Hobie would decide to do a "Sport Getaway" and add a boom, I bet it would be a loose-foot, like a H17SE. It will require a different completely sail and maybe a taller mast.

New Sail: $750-1000
Hobie Boom Kit: $500-700 (we know how Hobie loves to over price "Hobie" brand stuff).
Possible new mast: $$$????

So you are looking at a $1200-1700 upgrade atleast. I don't know if it would be worth the price? I am a big fan of the Getaway and this year we will have 5 Getaways in our fleet so there will be a racing class for them.

All the Getaway sailors I talk to like it boomless and would rather have a larger foresail to fly on light wind days.

I'd be all for a larger forsail if it would give a bit of extra power. I've heard that the getaway is not as good in light air and improved performance in this area would be welcomed. I am considering a getaway but I fear I will miss the speed and ability to fly a hull like I did on my H16. I guess I want the cruiser when I feel like sailing for fun and relaxation and the speed when I feel like saling for the sport of it.

Greg

It's still a lot faster than a comparable monohull!

I will admit the Getaway is a dog in light wind. Once the wind comes up though, it moves a long pretty well. With 1-2 people onboard you will have no problem flying a hull. 3-4 is a little too much to ask of any boat that size.

I think the jib is too small. If it were the size of a Nacra 5.2 or Hobie 18 jib, the Getaway would have the sail area of a Hobie 16. I believe they kept it small so that there would be more room on the deck; less stuff to bang the crew's knee on.

I have very few bad things to say about the Getaway. I think it is more fun and durable than a Hobie 16. It interesting to see how racing goes for the Getaway sailors this year. Last year those guys did very well in the fleet fun-runs.

have you ever seen somebody fly a hull on a getaway for an extended amount of time? I have a getaway and am a beginner sailer. I find it very difficult to
1) get the hull up (but i usually have 4-5 people on it )
2) when i do get it up, it goes over or likes to bury the front nose.

btw: i completely turtled my getaway on saturday this past weekend. a power boat helped me unturtle it, b/c i didn't know that you just have to stand on one side and be VERY patient. it sure was fun though.

good to hear that you are enjoying your boat! If you have substantial weight on the boat and are trying to lift a hull, have a person or two go to the leeward side to take some weight off the windward hull. It will probably be a wet ride over there though! Remember to either ease the sails or steer more into the wind to reduce power if you're flying too high.

Secondly, if you are reaching to get as much power as possible (wind at 90 degrees to your direction of travel), you should have a good deal of your crew weight at the back of the boat to keep the nose high. You'll be amazed how much effect weight placement has on boat handling and performance. When reaching in heavy air, all catamarans need to have the weight back on the far corner and most have put foot straps aft of the rear beam to make it easier to trapeze back there. You are a bit more vulnerable to capsize when reaching because you can't just turn the boat into the wind to depower. Be ready to ease the sails when overpowered and reaching because steering up or down will only help the boat fly higher!

As far as righting a turtled catamaran - you're right - get that weight on the corner. Rig you're righting line around the opposite hull and hang on to that while getting all your weight (or as much can fit) as far out on the corner of the boat that is farthest downwind - be it bow or stern. It shouldn't take too long to pop back up.

A family member has owned one since they came out, so yea I have sailed the boat with two people flying a hull often. It is a wonderful boat in a good blow.

The only time I have pitchpoled a Getaway was in 20+ mph wind with 4 adults aboard. Other than that I have never seen it done. You must of crashed pretty hard to turtle. Pretty tough with the old mast bob up top.

Ssyba,
You asked if anyone has seen a Getaway fly a hull?
Getaway Flying High
Getaway playing with it's little brother.


Hope that inspires you!

"A family member has owned one since they came out, so yea I have sailed the boat with two people flying a hull often. It is a wonderful boat in a good blow." wow, i guess i just need to get some confidence up learn to sail while flying a hull.

thanks for the pic. that is pretty incredible. although, I have wings and the opposite wing tends to drag in the water making it hard to have a stable ride while flying the hull.

Check the second pic for one with wings.

I followed the link and thought the picture was great, but even better I won a holiday see http://www.patriottravel.us/landingPageGO/lpGO104.htm
apparently I was the one millionth customer to visit the site, unfortunatly I couldn't find my phone in time to claim it, also the site tried to install some spyware, luckily it was blocked by my antispyware software.

Is thebeachcats.com a reputable web site, do they know that thier sponsors/advertisers are using spyware?

I went to the link you indicated and couldn't find any spyware, only a kind of "loud" advertisement. Could you send me information on why you think this ad contains spyware? I can assure you TheBeachcats.com is a reputable site, as far as the advertisers, I'm using Fastclick.com to supply the ads, and they have a clean rep. There is always the possibility that something gets past them though, so let me know and I can block a particular advertisement and complain to Fastclick.

If anyone is worried about spyware, (or wonders what it is) I suggest running Ad Aware, available at http://www.lavasoft.de/

Please be "aware" that this and other detectors will report even things you intentionally are running as spyware, you need to read the reports carefully before deleting things from your computer.

Thanks,

Damon,

I only know because while viewing the link my antispyware software reported that it had blocked spyware from Gator, and I beleive it was from thebeachcats or possibly from the "loud advertisment" site as these were the only sites I was viewing.

If anyone wants to know about Gator see http://www.cexx.org/gator.htm

I know this is only a matter of personal opinion but I don't like ads that try to trap the gullible with opening lines "like congratulations you are the one millionth visitor and have won a holiday" then tries to trick people into buying a holiday. That kind of advert is not "loud" its dishonest.

I hope you manage to sort it out.

All the best

Gareth

Just want to be clear, there is no Gator on TheBeachcats.com, or any other automated or silent downloads.