Having a tough time launching Hobie Wave from the beach into headwind with 3-4 foot breakers on Florida panhandle. Can't get enough speed to get through the waves headon without backing up and hitting rudders on the bottom. Already broke the tips off one side of the top rudder support. Any suggestions? Only way I've been able to launch is by swimming the boat out, but this is beating me up!

Speed is the key!!! When the waves are waist high or better take time to watch the sets and try to get a time on the sets coming in. Waves come in sets at pretty regular intervals and there are lulls at times and times the outside set is breaking... surfers do this and the teams I have been on in the Tybee 500 and W1000 all do this. The other trick is to use the rip current... all that water coming into the beach has to work its way out and that is where the rip is. Study the surf and you will see a channel where the waves break the least and that is where the deepest water is and where the rip is. This what the surfers on the North Shore of Hawaii use to paddle out when it is cranking... find the channel and let the current help you out. Keep the boat heated up and only point directly into the wave when it is about to break onto you...once through the white water...crack off immediately, heat it up and try to get boat speed before the next wave hits. It also helps on the Hobie wave to leave the rudders only halfway down which helps them not hit in the shallows, but also allows you to scull the helm if need be to fall off to get speed. If you have someone sailing with you, have them surf paddle in front of the front cross beam to add boat speed... We all do this when we can in the Tybee 500, etc. There is also a paddling device called a "praddle" that you can get at west marine that fits over your wrist and allows you to keep your hand on the tiller and paddle at the same time.

I own a Hobie Wave and take it out and play in the surf...it is the perfect boat for this because it is so tough...once you get it down you will be looking forward to the surf!!!

Have fun out there!

Jim Stone

Tybee Island

Some very good advice above. I would like to highlight the idea of STUDYING THE WAVES/BREAK and watch for patterns. To be honest, the BEST help is the ability to TIME your exit through the surf. OF course, it it imperative to get your boat ready and decide what take will have the slight advantage. Rarely if ever is the wind coming directly onshore so go with the best tack for the most speed through the surf.

Sooooo...

1. Prepare your cat for the launch. Get it in the water at the last spot you have some control.

2. Plan your push for the best power and boat entry so it will be smooth and fluid.

3. Before this big push, and most importantly, wait for the big set to come through where there is a slight LULL. This is extremely important in difficult situations and can make or break. Above info is right on. Watch the patterns and when the set comes through, start the big push as the lastbit of white water is heading your way.

4. When that lull is evident, push like fiends and get on ready to trim, heading at the right angle for the best wind and most speed exit. Dont put rudders all the way down locked for obvious reasons as gettting pushed back on locked blades is sure way to ruin your day. Just put them down enough for control and some steering (sometimes, weatherhelm can be a beast if it's blowing).

5. Go for Proper trim and speed and make sure bows are aiming if not STRAIGHT thru, then at a slight angle. Avoid getting broadside at ALL costs.

6. As a swell is approaching, move your weight FORWARD toward the crossbar so to transfer energy FORWARD as the wave hits. If needed, HOLD ON as sometimes the water covers the boat. As soon as the wave passes try to get going again. A major sin is letting the wave push you BACK and on the WRONG tack. This is that no mans zone.

It really takes practice and good timing and the more you get to lean the surf, which changes in all conditions, the better you get. Still, there is luck involved.

Lastly, if the conditions are horrid, DONT GO OUT. It's better to get more experience and save the boat then attempt it in a no go situation. One only has to remember the Jensen Beach beauty in the Worrell a few years back, a carnage inducer for sure.

One last thought, if you are a good swimmer, sometimes in certain instances, I have jumped back off the boat, swimming the bows thru the surf. I admit, this is a rare thing but it has gotten me out of a few sticky situations.

kh

Another thing that people haven't mentioned yet is to lookout for swimmers.

Again, don't ask me why thats important to me

Swimmers?

We dont need to think about no stinkin' Swimmers!

You mean you dont AIM for swimmers? That was meant to be #5 above! You arent anything unless you can straddle a few swimmers between the pontoons!

kh

If you are swimming it out ok there is no rreason why a good paddle wouldn't do a good job.
Just figure out a way of securing the tiller whilst paddling.

Call me a purist, but that last thing I want to have onboard my cat, no matter WHAT it is, is a PADDLE!

Personally, I consider a paddle onboard a liability as it gets in the way, becoming a line snag genius and a total pain.

Really, I have to say that in 25 years of beach cat sailing, I have never had any kind of paddle on board. The .0001% that you might need it is not worth the hassle.

If you are becalmed, which is a rarity on the coast, do the surfer prone position on the forward pontoon. It works like a charm.

kh

Well,
You have never sailed in a Worrell then.
My paddle gets plenty use here on maui, and it telescopes allowing it to fit in a pocket. From becalms to dismastings, it's really good to have.
If someone can swim their boat out thru the surf we are talking minimal conditions, and a pladdle sure beats a battle like swimming whilst pulling a sailboat.
Also in Hawaiian culture the paddlers are revered. Around the islands winds range from 35knots+ to 0 as you pass into a dead zone in the lee of a mountain. It's a huge part of their culture. In a sailing canoe race paddling is a large part of the deal.
Of course, putting a gas motor on a cat is not right. It turns the boat into a stinkpot.

Nope, never sailed in a Worrell. But after watching the Worrell for the last 20 odd years or so land and depart a few hundred yards from my place, I can say more than a handful of Worrell sailors are less than stellar in both coming in and leaving the surf, no matter what the conditions. Not to take away anything from the Worrell sailors; I have a lot of respect for this race and those in it. But if looking for excellence in handling a cat in the surf, not all Worrell sailors appear to be knowledgeable (I will admit that the Worrell stopped using anything approaching "beach cats" years ago, however). Of course, living in Maui would bring you into some serious swells and air.

But I still think a paddle would have done virtually NIL at Jensen besides perhaps getting your hulls pointed in the right direction, and the paddle does a poor job here as well. And more often than not, screwing with a paddle is not needed and is a hindrance. I wouldn't be taking off from the beach in dead air when a paddle is needed and if there is enough wind, you can get through most surf conditions (besides boat threatening - ie Jensen).

Besides, I dont think this hobie WAVE sailor is talking about the Worrell either. Again, your participation in the Worrell is noted. On the other hand, I stand on my point that a paddle is not needed 99.999% of the time. I've sailed a cat off the beach and through the inlets since the 70s and it's a RARE day anything approaching a paddle is required. Then again, I dont bring a VHF onboard and have my life jacket tied to the dolphin striker so you can take anything I say with a grain of salt (dont give me hell about the jacket not on - I know it's a chance and if knocked out, it's over).

kh

ps- Your paddle gets plenty of use in Maui???? When cat sailing??? Knowing the afternoon winds there, I only wonder when you are sailing, at 7am? Joking aside, a paddle is not necessarily taboo as you rightly say, but I think one should be able to cat sail without it. Again, I seem to side a bit over the line of the minimalist approach. But any time you want to trade houses, I'm up for it! heh...

The big irony, ole Pbowie is nowhere to be found to witness all the excitement about his WAVE through the surf dilemma.

Hello,
The Worrell used to start in the morning and there were frequent starts which required a paddle to pass thru the surfline. Thus my advice to the wave sailor on the panhandle.

Each sailor developes their own ideas and techniques according to where they sail. you seem to have good wind. lucky you.
i always wear a life jacket if there is spray hitting me as i sail-just a habbit. The west side of maui can be flukey and once we had to paddle in from a couple miles out because the crew needed to catch an airplane, and we were becalmed. 2 other times we broke a shroud anchor pin on the north shore and used the paddle the help us get back to the beach. it was downwind luckily. i always head upwind first when freesailing in case something breaks.

I just re-read the guy's post and realized he said 3-4ft waves in the panhandle. I would consider this as rare as hen's teeth, at least when I have been around those parts. Perhaps he should invest in one of those collaspable paddles, at least for backup.

Unfortunately, when you have a straight head wind and surf, you need timing and the ability to get the boat in trim and sailing as close to the the wind with as much speed as possible. The WAVE is not the paragon of cat performance, sadly. Not only does it do rather poorly sailing close to the wind but it has the type of hulls that dont facilitate getting through the surf. And when a bit sideways to the whitewater, these same hulls do you no favors. MY advice it to go OFF THE WIND to gain speed, picking whichever tack would give you the most headway. There is usually a good bit of space between waves and you need to use that space wisely and efficiently to build up speed. As a wave approaches, point higher to take the wave more head on but still keep some speed up. IF you are going fast enough, you will bust through, slowing a bit, but hopefully still with enough momentum and with boat still in good trim to pick up more speed before the next swell.

To be honest, I rarely see waves big enough on the Panhandle to cause too much trauma. But since it's shallow, you probably have whitewater rolling in from farther out on bigger days.

You have a more uphill battle with the WAVE compared to something like a simple H-16. But I think it can be done.

of course, the original poster is gone, never to return.... Let's pray he is either getting a paddle or proper beverages.

Here's the deal on paddles for me...

I never carried one either as I grew up sailing Hobie 14's off Waikiki. I then sailed a Hobie 18 for a while. Both boats have low freeboard any anyone can paddle while lying "surfer" prone on the hull... fast forward 20 years to my mid-life crisis and my W1000 and Tybee 500 experience sailing 6.0's and I-20's. The freeboard is much higher on these boats and although I can still surf paddle from the hull, often if my crew is smaller and their arms cannot easily reach the water well enough to generate any power. Complicated by the fact that we are wearing trapeze hooks that eat fiberglass and often we are putting only our torso in front of the cross beam to keep from tearing up the deck with our hooks. I now carry a praddle (wrist paddle) as well as a lightweight telescoping paddle for the crew. We have plenty of pockets to stow things so it is no big deal and does not get in the way.

I sat 2 miles off Tybee four years ago with my wife on a hot July day becalmed for several hours... my wife was getting dehydrated (I did not bring but one water bottle as we were just going out for an hour or so we thought... with no paddle, I took my harness off and surf paddled us in with Roxanne driving. Had I not been tall enough this would have been difficult. I think about smaller crews on an F-18 where neither person may not be tall enough to efficiently surf paddle the boat. I guess you could try to scull but the high aspect ratio rudders don't do a very good job of that on these boats. The dagger boards are probably too heavy and awkward to efficiently paddle with... I guess you could bring lots of water! I remember a few years ago about the Richard Feene Tornado team that sailed down from Miami for the Steeplechase and it took them all night as they were becalmed, and the Austrailian Tornado team who almost died a few years ago because they went outside the harbor to train and ran into some trouble...no radio, no spray gear, no paddle, and spent a very hard night on their boat...the story was much more harrowing than that.

It's a personal choice for sure, when I was 16 in Hawaii I never wore a life jacket either. Today, I always wear one, and when sailing in the ocean I bring a radio, cell phone, epirb (distance racing), a paddle, flares, whistle, mirror, etc. even when training... not just racing. Besides, when training you have to get use to sailing with the gear they require you to carry.

Have fun out there!

No paddle?
I paddled the Hobie 14 I had years ago many times...when the wind shuts down,as it often does here around sunset…Once, I had to paddle it over three miles against a stiff incoming tide, with a 85’ “Head boat” passing thru the narrow cannel under a bridge from the opposite direction... both of us in the slot at the same time (the captain was in a hurry and obviously couldn’t wait). When I cleared the bridge I had to paddle up current a good mile in the Ft. Pierce inlet with the tide approaching full bore…I would like to see someone dog paddle that scenario.

I can guarantee you, that the average sailor can generate a great deal more thrust, for a longer period of time with a paddle than he/she could laying on the front of a hull paddling it with their hands like a surfboard. Being a sailor (since 1976), surfer(since 1968)and kayaker(since 1999), I have total confidence in my statement.

As far as using it to get out thru the break...hey whatever works for you...if a $20 paddle can keep you from trashing your mast and a set of sails, I would think it would be well worth the bother.

Regards,

Bob

Bob, not to be picky but if you have that much experience sailing, surfing, and kayaking, what are you doing 3 miles away after sunset with the wind dying? Crazy ole bob!

You beat me by a few years surfing and I dont kayak. Been surfing since 70 though (still have original Hansen Mike Doyle Pointed Tail among others). And what limited paddling I have had to do around the Carolina coast, the prone position on the pontoon has been fine. As a surfer, I am surprised you call it "dog paddling" anyway. To be honest, on the H16, you can move it at a VERY fast clip when paddling from the pontoon once you get your rhythm going. It's actually a more natural feeling to me than paddling. And to show you how childish I can be, I will be willing to bet you my 83 H16 that I can go faster paddling from the pontoon than you with your flexi-flyer paddle. If I win, you have to throw away the paddle! If I lose, you can lend me your kayak.

I had a feeling the "paddle guys" would be up in arms here. Where are the seat of the pants sailors here? Anyone left that throws on the Birdwells and gets it on without all the Hobie Gear and paraphenelia? Paddles, compass, VHF, Water Bottles, Horns, Flares... Hell, it was enough to bring a jacket in the old days!

I always saw the cat sailors more like this than the monohull brigade which was far more gimcrack-laden. I suppose I wont hear the end of the Paddles R Us as anyone that uses one feels the need to defend it and most that dont, wont be sitting on a computer typing about sailing. What's my excuse?

heh.

kh

ps - Jim, seriously, I dont blame you for that stuff, nor a paddle on an I-20. Your comments DO make sense and experience proves it is important. I guess I have still not given up the free feeling I had when sailing in teens and 20s. I'm 43 now and still only bring a life jacket and harness onboard. Your'e right about the harness and hull quagmire but if the wind is that light, it's off anyway. Respect your choices but to me, sailing a cat means FREE of all that. Perhaps in a few more years, I will think differently. I just bought a Beneteau F235 monohull so things are already starting to slide...heh. Still take the 16 out though but it's getting harder to pull it up the beach nowadays. Just a little friendly sparring on ye olde forums

I really don't think its a big deal.

If you want to bring a paddle, bring one.

If you think you can paddle home surfer style, then go for it.

You're responsible for your own hide once you leave the beach, its up to you how to get back.

Of course... Makes sense and we all know this is ultimately true. On the other hand, it's semi-amusing to debate the subject. For my ills, next time I go out, I will be stuck two miles off the beach with a thunderhead approaching and becalmed as a baby in a manger...

Time to pull the Tom Blake Paddle Board memories!

I've argued about some frivilous crap before, but I think this takes the cake.
:P

At least I am trying to be humorous... Besides, it's not that frivilous if you think about the sport now. When we started this, it really was a surfer motivated, more iconoclastic type of sport that had far more "seat of the pants" attitude and gusto.

Look at the original tapes of Surfers Phil Edwards, the great stylist, and Hobie Alter, both who were integral in the development of the beach cat. Those early tapes of Hobie busting through the surf on the 14 and Phil and Hobie letting it all hang out... that is what seems to be missing from the new Cat sailors laden with gear and mega-buck boats.

I guess the paddle thing was just a point I was trying to make along these lines. Seems the sport has lost a bit of this feeling to me. The other day, I was out and I saw this guy on a Miracle 20 with every single piece of gear on you could find. I would bet his accessories cost more than my boat. My point? Not really much of one as most, including me, would ultimately say whatever floats your boat. Yet a part of cat sailing is gone with all this crap. At least in my view. And a lot of these gear heads couldnt sail their way out of a paper bag.

You learn to make do and survive without all his stuff and use your wits and WATER SENSE to make it through difficult situations.

What does a paddle have to do with this? Not too much...but I guess I will manage without one.

kh

Bob, not to be picky but if you have that much experience sailing, surfing, and kayaking, what are you doing 3 miles away after sunset with the wind dying? Crazy ole bob!

>>>Blond hair and fair skin…I always like to do my water sports right before dusk…after 50 years in the sun I look like a dermatologists walking retirement dream. As for the three miles away…I lived on the water at the time, no trailer…I always had to get back to where I started from…no “walk of shame” for me…LOL

And to show you how childish I can be, I will be willing to bet you my 83 H16 that I can go faster paddling from the pontoon than you with your flexi-flyer paddle. If I win, you have to throw away the paddle! If I lose, you can lend me your kayak.

>>>Come on down…LOL…I willing to give it a try…oh… by the way…I am sailing a SC 17 now and I not sure if I could even reach the water to surf paddle it…LOL…a lot more freeboard than the old Hobie 14…LOL…You won’t mind if I bring my carbon fiber wing paddle from my Surf ski for the race do ya?

I had a feeling the "paddle guys" would be up in arms here. Where are the seat of the pants sailors here? Anyone left that throws on the Birdwells and gets it on without all the Hobie Gear and paraphenelia? Paddles, compass, VHF, Water Bottles, Horns, Flares... Hell, it was enough to bring a jacket in the old days!

>>>Except for something to drink, a littler a spare line, a PFD for myself and crew the paddle is the only gear I bring along, like yourself I don’t want to hire a power boat to run behind me caring all the safety gear. I do think I might get a drag shoot though…I want to try Bill Roberts righting technique out.

We had a gps or some sort of electronics, once in the 80's on a becalm and with a good paddle and the sails set we were hitting 5 or 6 mph. it's amazing how paddling puts wind in the sails. i guarantee if paddling were legal in a race, folks wouldn't be paddling with their hands unless the paddle fell overboard. sure would add a twist to those useless dead air days.