SHOW US YOUR HOOTERS!

What have people put together that worked? How well did your setup perform? Pic's of the rig would be particularly helpful (of course!)

please find some pictures from my boat in this thread
[url=http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=200034&page=1][/url]
It is a swinging pole because of the double forestay layout of the Javelin 16. At the time of the pictures I used a 1:3 layout with shock cord, which kept most of the furling line at the pole instead of the tramp or water. Now I have no purchase at all, since I needed the microblocks.

Cheers,

Klaus

Great pictures, thanks Klaus. This is a much simpler setup than I've seen in other places - very much in line with what I had in mind. Have you had any difficulty with the pole being secured only at the ends?

Check out the link:
http://www.catsailor.com/bestof_articles/Hooter.html
This was written during the development, and most of it still fits today.
For example, the furler system uses a 1:2 ratio. For every foot of comfortable line you pull, you furl two feet of small, non-stretch stuff onto the furling drum -- very fast for furling.
Single-handing the boat I have been able to come into the leeward mark on starboard (inside mark room and right of way boat as well), Furl quickly, make the jibe and come out of the turn just missing the mark while being close-hauled.
Works great!
Rick

Here in Texas, Dennis Banks got a new ARC 22 and had his sails made be Landenberger. Dennis specifically asked for a fairly flat chute he could push to weather when needed. What he got looked like a Hooter to me. The fabric has some heavy cross fibers in it that run 90* to each other as well as a Vectran line running up the luff. At first they tried to tramp launch it but there was too much friction due to the cross fibers. Then Landenberger told him it was made to furl. He added a Faknor (not sure if I spelled that right) furling drum and swivel and runs it like a Hooter. It works great. It actually looks like the head sails they were running in the AC. The foot isn't nearly as long as past Hooters I've seen though. It sheets to the Shrouds.
My point here is, even with all the advancements in spinnaker cuts and snuffing systems, the Hooter is still a very competetive alternative, maybe even a little ahead of it's time when it came out.

What happens when you flip? Everyone I have ever seen do this needed outside assistance to be righted, when the furled sail filled with water.I'm sure there's a solution, I've just never seen it in action.

Yeah, Todd is right--They are impossible to get back over. I even released the halyard on mine all the way and still couldn't get my 14 over. I'm going to install one on my Supercat and I believe I can right the boat with the shroud release system. We'll see.

This is a link to a photo album with closeups of my Hobie 14 set up:

Hobie 14 Hooter

Same as righting a boat with a spinnaker.., you have to take the sail down before righting it. Easy ehough either furled or unfurled -- release the halyard and pull the sail down to the hulls -- it won't go anywhere and the boat will be able to right.

And you are correct in it looking like the Americas Cup headsails.
Calvert came up with the idea about the same time or a little sooner than I did. I remember it was in Marathon, FL race from the Bay side to the Ocean side and I was defending champ. There was little or no wind. Randy Smyth had built a funny little reacher for me and I opted to use that thinking to hug the shoreline up and back down on the ocean side, also thinking I might get some sea breezes that way.
We took off up the back side and sailed for hours. Bob Onsgard and Clive Mayo both had huge spins on their Nacra 6.0s, and had this little thing comparitively.
Bob and Clive were way out from shore. The RC decided to drop a mark and have everyone round it and return to the start line for the finish. Problem was they dropped the mark right in front of Bob. I had to beat about a 1/2 mile to get to the mark before I could use my headsail.
As I rounded the mark, I saw Clive about 50 yards behind me. I got my little sail up and patiently waited for Clive to blow by me with his big spin.
Strangely enough we were pulling away from him. Bob was over a 1/2 mile ahead and really had no idea we could catch him, but we blew by him as well and finished way ahead of the fleet.
When I told Calvert of this he was a little miffed that I discovered this new idea as well.
So, I had Dave make me a sail and we started developing that as well. That was when I wrote that article.
Randy called his a Screacher, and we had to name it something else, so we named it the Hooter (Mary's idea). Calvert did not like the name, but after all these years it seems to have stuck.

Nothing like Hooters!
Rick

so far not. If the pole is only support at the ends, there is only compression but no bending on the tube, at this is quite modest, since the bridle line runs nearly at 90 degrees to the pole.

no pb
me righting after capsize

Great music!

"This must be underwater love, the way I feel it all over me..."

Who is that?

Hey Rick,

Do you remember dates (years) for those events?

Gotta guess mid 90s. Oh and right, Mike, you were even before Calvert and I when you used a Hooter (Reacher) that was masthead in the Sandusky Steeplechase.
Rick

smoke city, end of the 90's

Cheers,

Klaus

Thanks Klaus.

Believe it or not, Rick, that was 1990! Time flies, doesn't it? I remember that sail was way ahead of its time for several reasons. I made it at Greiner Sails of lightweight mylar kevlar and it had NO STITCHING except for the corners where I sewed on web loops in lieu of using grommets so that the sail would be as light as possible. Carol and I raced our Hobie 18 with that sail on its first use against you and Mary on your Hobie 18 using a SYMETRICAL spinnaker. Can you believe how fast things changed?! That sail was so fast it was hard to believe. I can only take credit for bringing the idea home from Australia (while we were racing the Tasar Worlds) where I saw a Hobie 18 on the beach with a masthead genny and running backstays. I did improve the sail significantly and figure out how to run it without adding the backstays. Dave Sullivan and I used it on our first running of the Key Largo Steeplechase (also 1990) and we were holding off Prindle 19s with it on the 18 Magnum. We did not have the big poles yet and were running it on a bow to bow wire like the Hobie 21 originally had. The sail was masthead but with a much shorter foot than commonly used now.

It has been fun developing sails with/against you for a couple decades now. BTW, I have an idea to make the Hobie Wave MUCH faster in a very simple way and would enjoy discussing it with you (or maybe just showing it to you this summer)! It depends on how motivated I get... (How in the world do you do it?!) If you combined my idea with your Hooter, you would always win any race you entered on the Wave that you finished. Interested?

Just remember, I did this one first!

Sorry IndyWave, Doesn't cut it. Those only measure up as hooters if you use two of them.

hahah awesome