I want to rig my 18 for a spinnaker. I have a pole and snuffer system from my Fox. I need to know the pole length,spinnaker dimensions,mast tang height and proper sheet line installation. Also any problems or concerns any of you have encountered. Thanks

Buy the Hobie chute for the 18/18SX - it seems to work well on the boat. I used a 12.5' pole length which gave a good slot between chute and main without excessive lee helm. Don't go for the 8.5 ' pole length hobie recommends on their setup instructions - the slot is way too small.

Locate the spin tang no more than 1/3 the way up the comptip (to keep the stress on this rather delicate component manageable) and the adjust your pole shrouds to vary the height of the tip of the pole to get the right luff tension. I used vectran for the shrouds which is easy to adjust and seems to last well.

With this pole length and chute you won't want your spin sheet blocks on the rear cross bar - it would pull the foot too tight and open the leach too much. You can get the clew re-cut to let you fit blocks off the side shrouds, or do what I did: mount eye straps through the outside deck lip some distance behind the shroud and spread the load under the lip with some stainless bar stock that the eye strap bolts through. This has lasted well with no cracking. I mounted a second pair of turning blocks on the front cross bar, one in line with each hiking strap, then a pulley on a bungey that sucks the slack towards the back cross bar. I had a doubler rigged and ran my hooks off the rear cross bar which was a bit of a compromise on sheet angle. If I did it again I would rig the hook off the spin sheet block's eyestrap on a short length of line and have some small shock cord from the hook to the shroud to hold it out the way when not in use.

Chris.

I put a spinnaker on my 89 Hobie 18. Pole is 12 - 12.5 feet, end of pole snuffer. Spinnaker dim were taken out of a old Murrys Catalog. I picked up a all alum mast for $170 and use that for the spinnaker rig. Keep the tang 1/3 to 1/2 between the shroud tang and top of mast. With the pole that long and the standard size spinnaker I need to sheet to the front crossbar. Still playing with the spinnaker to make it faster.

I ran a NE 6.0 chute on my 18 Magnum (once). Ran it masthead (all-aluminum mast) with a 13' pole; sheeting to the rear crossbeam. Fit pretty nicely, moved the boat quite well, then I looked up and saw the mast tip deflected at leat 12" to the side... Got it down before anything broke, but that might have been a little bit too much chute.

With a masthead spinnaker you need a running backstay from the top of the mast to the rear crossbar to support the mast. The winward side will be tightened and the lewward side would be released to allow the boom and mainsail to move.

I have used an (elderly) stock Hobie 18 SX spinnaker on Hobie 18, Hobie 20 & A-cat including last weekend. Works pretty well with 12.5 foot pole. Does not want to run as high as a modern assymetric however.

Yes Carl, I'm finding that out. Will you be in MI for Silver Lake & the Catfight this year?