my first hobie was a h14t, great boat, love to sail it. now i also have a h16, which i usually sail with and without crew. sometimes its too windy here to singlehand my 16 even with a reef and roller furling jib, (i weigh 150) i am considering setting up the 14 classic style for windy days. i heard the 14 tacks better with the mast more vertical is that true? my 14t is set up race style with maximum mast rake, i have never been able to tack it without using the jib. can anyone help me with set up and technique suggestions or is it even a good idea, should i stick with the 14turbo setup. thanks!

Keep THE MAST RAKE, It has a lot of advantages!!!

Speed, pointing and less playing submarine!



Tacking and how it works:

If you are on a close haul bear off like 2-5 degrees to accelerate the sheet in max, before the boom goes to the middle of the boat ease the sheet and help with psuhing the boom with your back. Don't push the rudder to the max but start with slow rudder angle and push mmore the slower the boat gets.

Your weight should be as mach as possible to the stern when starting the tack.

If you are "through the wind" take the rudder amidships and slowly pull the sheet in position yourself slightly into the bow direction?

Try and try 30 times again. This helps.



Fritz

Fritz,

You might be right in some aspects that mast rake has a lot of advantages but the one thing I have learned in hobie 14 races (esp. short courses) is the one thing that saves time is quick tacks. No matter how good you are at tacking, you will never be able to tack as well with the mast raked back as with it straight up. All of the top sailors in the frostbite series started with masts raked back... then one of the sailors raked his straight up and he started killing everyone on tacks... sure he couldn't point half a degree as high and as fast but the tacks more than made up for it. Pretty soon all the top sailors in the fleet were raking their masts straight up. Now there are VERY few sailors sailing with any rake. In big seas and REALLY heavy wind rake might help you handle the boat better but good luck taking in heavy seas and big wind in the first place... or even staying upright.

As Fritz described pushing the rudders and easing the sheet is exactly what you want to do. If you push them hard it will park the boat and kill your momentum.

You definatley do not want your weight as far back in the boat as possible. The 14 is a see saw... if you miss place the weight the other side goes up. If you move to the back of the boat your bows will go straight up in the air. Especially if you are on the heavier side. I learned that the hard way early on in my time racing the 14. I was only 135 pounds at the time... I got to the back of the boat and pretty soon I was swimming in the freezing water of Newport, RI in January. Also, wait until the last possible minute to move back and switch your tiller over. Stay forward and on the windward side (windward side going into tack) as long as possible.

If you stall during the tack backwind your sail and reverse the rudders. This will get you out of irons... you will need to do this your first few tacks.

I sail a 16, and have raked back and forward...I believe that tacking is all technique. Raked back will get you a little higher into the wind before you loose drive from your sails.

The main key I found to successful tacking on my 14 was to let out the main when going through the eye of the wind. A lot of main. And just when you think you've let out enough, then let out some more. I don't think I ever found a point where I let out too much main. Even just a little too little and I'd be in irons. Get the boat settled lower than its new direction before even thinking about sheeting in.



I'll get to re-learn all this, I just got a freebee 14 that needed a home! :-)

In my experiences there's no getting away from the fact that aft mast rake can make tacking a little more difficult. It's just Physics. Some experiened crews can handle it with no problem,(with practice of the aforementioned techniques) but some folks relatively new to the game will get burned trying lot's of rake. Sure, on long races, with the right amount used and under the right conditions, it can provide up-wind advantages that pay off. In a lot of conditions it's probably safer. Less chance to dig a bow and P-Pole.



But I must be missing something here, because I still can't understand all the positive hype that mast rake seems to generate.

Hopefully I'm not re-stating what is already known, so forgive me if that's the case.



On boardless boats, the theory behind adding lots of rake is that the rudders start to act like daggerboards, giving you better pointing and control. I remember seeing an old trick for 14s that used a loose rig, with a line tied to the bridle/forestay junction and run back to the tramp. For going upwind, the mainsheet would pull the rig back, giving you rake. Any time you didn't want so much rake (offwind in non-heavy conditions, or maybe before a tack) you released the main sheet and pulled on that line, raking the rig forward and keeping it from slapping around.



Keep in mind that if you have the stock molded plastic rudders rake may not help much - they're way too flexible. I'd go out on a limb and say they might even affect your ability to tack. You can deflect these things by hand significantly - just imagine what any kind of sailing load would do. If you have these and you care, get a new pair of the Hobie racing rudders, or some used EPOs or equivalent. The improvement in helm feel and sailing is worth the price, IMO. The original ones are crap, can't imagine why they even sell them.