Announcements
New Discussions
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Hop To
For you Prindle Fans #274920
08/22/14 04:23 PM
08/22/14 04:23 PM
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,403
V
Ventucky Red Offline OP
veteran
Ventucky Red  Offline OP
veteran
V

Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,403
Enjoy...


Last edited by Ventucky Red; 08/23/14 01:35 PM.
-- Have You Seen This? --
Re: For you Prindle Fans [Re: Ventucky Red] #274923
08/22/14 11:32 PM
08/22/14 11:32 PM
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 208
D
DHO Offline
enthusiast
DHO  Offline
enthusiast
D

Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 208
I heard Geoff Prindle saw the H14 and H16 and thought he could do better. Thus the bigger hulls for more bouyancy and more resistance to pitchpoling.

Re: For you Prindle Fans [Re: DHO] #274926
08/23/14 09:55 AM
08/23/14 09:55 AM
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 490
catandahalf Offline
addict
catandahalf  Offline
addict

Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 490
Well, back in the seventies they were popular for sure, and a lot of 18s were sold when it came out.

If my faded view of history is correct, Geoff Prindle was an early employee at Hobie Cat. Gene Vernon also developed the Sol Cat 18, and he might have been a Hobie Cat employee, himself.

I hope someone can refresh my actual claim, but I believe Phil Edwards and Micky Munoz worked with Hobie on the design for the Hobie 14. Imitations began about the time the sixteen came out and inspired Prindle. Vernon went a step further and designed the Sol Cat to be the first affordable production boat with daggerboards, but it faded because of the straight waterline and deck flange. Fred Roland became inspired to add volume in the bow and financed the Alpha line of products, with the Alpha 18 being around for awhile along with their SH 15 footer.

Morrelli and Melvin helped Roland design a NACRA 36, and that became the basis for the NACRA 5.2. The refinements in hull construction with rocker in the stern and seamless deck appearance was a real hit with performance sailors. The 5.8, 18m2, and 6.0 fell in line within just a few years. When the 5.5 SL was introduced they truly had a balanced but underpowered rig. Randy Smyth was on the west coast working with sails and sailplans, and he naturally began working with spinnaker employement.

It was neat being on the French Reviera and seeing a Hobie design in the 19 - 20 foot range with the Smyth spin design on the rental boat. I smiled a bit as he was sharing the story since I had been racing against Randy for a few years prior to going to Europe and had seen the single piece halyard and tack design on Pensacola Beach.

Randy's triangle shaped launch bags were eventually replaced with spin poles, and they were soon replaced with snuffers.

Now we are foiling, and have discovered less weight IS better!

Rick White and Matt Bounds will know the facts, but I wanted to share a nutshell version of the design history for Beach Cats.

Re: For you Prindle Fans [Re: Ventucky Red] #274927
08/23/14 03:15 PM
08/23/14 03:15 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 307
maui
jollyrodgers Offline
enthusiast
jollyrodgers  Offline
enthusiast

Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 307
maui
i'll add some memories and hear say;
Didn't Mr. Prindle actually help design the Hobie Cat and have an argument that led to making his own cat? That's how i heard it. Hobie's 60s design group would use 2 different hulls on the same boat to compare shapes. They also tested with existing small cats like the Cal Cat and presumably the Aqua Cat. Phil Edwards shaped the TheMightyHobie18 and was there for the 14, but maybe Hobie actually did some of the shaping on the 14. He was a shaper. I think the proto type hulls were made like a surfboard on the 14.
Randy, IIRC, was dominating the Prindle 16 class with Suzi, and the P18 class with Jay, then the Tornados. Also Darts and whatever cats he sailed there in that late 70s - early 80's, and on down the line.
There were actually 3 different sailmakers that showed up at the first Worrell with spi cats. Maybe they all were using Randy's idea, maybe not. I remember Roy Seaman was there on an early 5.8, and i know he had a N36 and built wood Tornados in the 70's so i thought he may have had something to do with the 5.2. I was under the impression it took more than 3 years for the 5.8 to come out after the 5.2 which was a pretty successful design. I personally didn't agree with the uppity nature of the 5.2 sailors because the boat wasn't that much better than a Hobie. In fact we cleaned their clocks on the SF bay with a TheMightyHobie18 in some championship there in the strong breeze back at the end of the 70s.
Prindle guys had that same rap about how their boats were better than Hobies. They were lighter and the manufacturing was better, but in the end i think they pitchpole about the same. In fact, once you learn how to keep a Hobie16 upright on the downwind, i think it pitches less than a P16.
Anyway the original H14 movie would be cool to re-watch. We had a player in our shop that would loop that movie. Lots of footage in the surf, and the term "Chinese flying leap jibe"...

Re: For you Prindle Fans [Re: Ventucky Red] #275035
08/27/14 10:33 PM
08/27/14 10:33 PM
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,844
42.904444 N; 88.008586 W
Todd_Sails Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Todd_Sails  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,844
42.904444 N; 88.008586 W
My first cat was a P18-, yes it was usually faster than the TheMightyHobie18's and they had boards!
But that lip was hell on your feet if you were trapping very long.
For years- I used one of those one piece over the neck Prindle trap harnesses- that unless you learned how to put a stopper knot in it and where in the line that fastened it- it would ruin your family plan!

I then got a P18-2! What an awesome boat!
As well as my next awesome boat- the N6.0NA! Retrofitted a spin to that one.

I'm very happy with my current F18Infusion Mk I however


F-18 Infusion
#626- SOLD it!

'Long Live the Legend of Chris Kyle'

Moderated by  Damon Linkous 

Search

Who's Online Now
0 registered members (), 413 guests, and 82 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
Darryl, zorro, CraigJ, PaulEddo2, AUS180
8150 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
Forum Statistics
Forums26
Topics22,404
Posts267,055
Members8,150
Most Online2,167
Dec 19th, 2022
--Advertisement--
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1