Oh, the life of a sailor

A friend and I took the Nacra out in the crazy Oklahoma wind today. I managed to grab a few pictures of the set up and the loading of the boat.

I also took a couple of photos of my room. I realized that I need to get rid of some stuff. I have sails for five boats piled at the foot of the bed. Also I have wetsuites hanging all over.

Oh, and just for some info. The temp today was about 55 and the wind was blowing around 20 when we hit the water. It slowly grew to about 30 and then got gusty. That is when we started loading. The nice thing about where we load is it is protected so we don't have to deal with a bunch of waves while loading.

But here are some pictures the first few post will be of today.

Another one

And anotehr

one more

That 5.2 is a nice boat! I'd love to get a 5.2 or a 5.5 for my son and I to cut about on then turn it over to him and his buddies!

Clayton

That looks like my dream bedroom! surrounded by GEAR! Had a room like that once, only it was climbing gear, and the room was a tent. Then, my wife made me come home:(

Clayton:

This 5.5 kicked our butt at Texas Catamaran Championships!!!!

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
"Stress Free"

Where are you located? I know someone selling a 5.2 that is in pretty good shape. Email me at (gree2056 At OU.edu) Just replace the at with the symbol.

I love my bedroom, it is always covered in gear, if I showed you the garage you would love it to. I have a very old aquacat hung from the ceiling and a Hobie 14 on it's trailor parked in there.

The 5.2 impresses me more and more every time I take it out, yesterday we buried it into a wave up to the front crossbar and it just plowed through. I watched the bows go into waves and at times be a 1.5 feet underwater without the boat even noticing.

So can anyone beat me for a bedroom with more gear in it?

Check your email

C

Woah gree!!, whats that in the water on the right side of pic #3?
BTW, My room resembles that now, but only cause I dont have any room in the garage, and i dont like storing the gear in the tube when the temp drops around here. (down to 18 yesterday).

That is a piece of brush. The lake is nearly 12 feet low right now, alot of stuff that is normally under water is exposed right now. I actually have caught alot of bass off the brush pile. I placed it there about two years ago, along with about 20 other half trees. They make great places to find fish when no one else can.

Yeah, the garage houses boats and large parts but sails and other soft stuff are in the room.

You can always do what I did. I built a platform above my bed. I don't like leaving spinnaker and sails in the storage unit.

Doug

Since I had a weekend available, I decided to hit up the home improvement store and get some lumber and put this shiz together. Soon to be covered and stocked with all kinds of boat related stuff.

Nice photos, is it me or do those traps on the fivetwo look extremely high? Maybe the angle of the image?

No, you are right the traps are really high. In preparation for the trip to the lake we grabbed the wrong trap wires. That is how a Hobie 16 trap wires fit a Nacra 5.2. It actually worked pretty well but we had to adjust the system a little.

I like the big beer keg/cooler to the left of the bench! Also, is that a full-contact sailing mask in the picture? Rollerblade on N-20s!

If you're refering to the 5.2 that Bill E had for-sale it's gone. You will find yourself chasing it around Hefner when you come up this summer. Provided that is we get any water between now and then. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Ha!

I need to convince Kate that we no longer need that water heater and should just put a beer keg in its place.

The hockey mask is there because Trey used to punch me in the face, and I just got sick of it :P

What exactly do you plan on putting on that top shelf?

Anything I want. I can reach it just fine.

Porbably liquor though :P

That must be one small bottle! It doesn't look like it has head room for more than one or two playing cards.

now that you mention it, the picture is deceiving.

The whole area is a recessed alcove off the back of my garage.

Here's a pic that tries to give all the associated dimensions.

Back to the 5.2 discussion. I am considering selling my 5.2 because I would like to start racing with my son, starting with the Hobie MidWinters. However, they don't allow any non-hobie boats to enter. Funny how that works. Anyway, I am considering selling the Nacra for a Hobie 16. I know some of you Nacra sailors are fanning your faces right now trying to maintain consciousness, but the Hobie 16 would allow me to race more. I feel the Nacra 5.2 is a better and faster boat, but I would have to race open or handicap and I am not THAT good of a sailor. Anyone want to trade? Send me a PM.

-Rob

Is there a pic? I get an error...


Clayton

Rob: I know Brad is trying to build the H-16 class in Div. 15, so he'll probably dislike this, but...

You don't need an H-16 to race more....particularly in the Gulf Coast area. According to the HCA schedule, MWE is the only Hobie sanctioned regatta in Div. 15 this whole year. Are the PCCC(?) fall and spring series races Hobie only?

Fact is, at most regattas in the FL panhandle, AL, MS, LA area, you'll be racing on Portsmouth even if you're on a H-16. I did about 8 regattas/year in our area the last couple of years, and, except for the Hobie-only MWE, the H-16s did not get their own fleet in any of them.

Besides, you don't have to be THAT good to race Portsmouth any more than you do in one-design. You'll face great, good, medium, and poor competition in either. It's just more a matter of sailing your boat to it's rating better than your opponent as opposed to racing boat for boat.

Whichever boat you have, I hope to meet you at person at the MWE in March and sail against you at Slip To Ship!

Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mi'sippi
HCA # 4310

A lot of open / handicap racing is in place for new racers who managed to grab whatever boat was available. A perception that the open class is full of hotshots is a misnomer. Most of the hotshots are in the one design classes (like H16, F18, etc.).

That being said, I think you will learn and improve more quickly in a one design class. It's very difficult to sail an odd-ball boat in an odd-ball fleet and have any basis for comparison. Besides, you'll find that most everyone - even the 'hotshots' are very willing to help you get up to speed whether you are sailing in open class or in a one design fleet. With only a few excepted examples, our community is not big enough for people to be snobish about performance.

Good points...
Midwinters is the only hobie only regatta that I know of in this area. All the PCCC series are open and they are extremely helpful in making me a better sailor. I usually crew for Scott on the H20. He may be out of town for midwinters so I am looking at alternatives.
The reason I was looking at the H16 was for something to compare. I know my 5.2 is a little faster than the H16. There are more than a few sailors who will still beat me with their H16s, and that definately makes them better sailors than me. My issue is that if I beat them, I won't really know if it was because I sailed better or was it that my boat was better in the particular conditions. My son does fine on the 5.2 so except for trying to get in the Midwinters, I will have no problem with the 5.2. I'm actually considering doing RTI on it but I would have to rig a spinnaker or pray for more wind than last year.

-Rob V.
Panama City
Nacra 5.2

OK... let me try this pic.

I don't know why they are not uploading.

For reference, here is a picture of my crew. This was taken when I first bought the boat... the rear trap is not routed through the rear beam anymore.

-Rob V.

My first RTI was done at the helm of a 5.2 without a spinnaker.

Rob. Is there a fleet of one design racers in your driving area? Do they go racing in sufficient numbers and often enough for you to want to join them? If the answer is yes and yes... great.

If not, Your 5.2 looks like its in great shape and its a very nice sailing boat. You may not need to change rides... Perhaps a charter or loan from a friend will get you to the Midwinters.

With proper racing sails, your boat should be equal to a Hobie 18 on the water and much faster then a Hobie 16. Now if your sails are as old as the boat...

Rob:

That is what I do with the 17. With changes I made it is not class legal. Will have to do the same with the Mystere 4.3. May be moving to the Tampa Area. Is that close to you?

Doug Snell

What you need is a garage.....

You'd face the same issues if you were racing an H-16 against other H-16s in this area. I routinely race against H-16s that vary from late 70's to 2005 models, and there's a significant difference in the boats. In addition, there are H-16s/sailors who do better upwind vs. down, heavy wind vs. light, etc.

And what Jake said about the one-design hot-shots definiely applies to the Hobie MWE.....those guys from MI, NY, DE, etc. don't drive all the way to the FL panhandle just to fool around. (Please don't look at my results!)

I guess my point is that in this area you're not likely to be racing with a ton of other boats just like yours, even on an H-16. But you are likely to improve your skills (and have fun!) at the regattas, so just do it!

P.S. Both my son and daughter started racing with me when they were about 10 years old.

Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mi'sippi

Wow, you guys are just full of good news. I really didn't want to sell it anyway. I just did a bottom job on it, so it would hurt to trade it. So... since I am not selling it, I need to start looking for some decent sails. My jib is good, but I have two mains that are fair condition at best. Any ideas on an economic way of getting some decent used sails without sitting around waiting for one to pop up on ebay?

-Rob V.

Look in the classifieds here on catsailor and post here:
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewforum.php?f=10&sid=af81751ebace039df87c0a60fcd6ff88

You can also post and look in the classified section on www.thebeachcats.com

Doug