H16 Singlehanding

I'll be singlehanding my H16 most of the summer this year and I'm wondering if you guys have some tips for me. I'm planning on investing in a power pole just in case I go over and I plan on carrying a marine radio with me at all times, not to mention actually wearing my life jacket. I also wondered about sailing the 16 uni-rigged. Without the jib, should the mast be de-raked? When sailing under main and jib I rake the mast back about as far as I can manage and not run into trouble with the mainsheet. Any other ideas that might help? My biggest concern is safety and having fun just cruising around seeing the sights. I'm not looking to set any speed records out there by myself.
Thanks,
jrg

Single handing a 16 is a lot of fun. There's nothing better than trapping out while single handing.

Keep the jib on. You'll learn a lot about the boat and be able to instruct new crew on what's needed to run the front end of the boat. If you do go without you should get some tips from the 14 guys. Rake back going to weather and forward for reaches.

Wearing your PFD is an excellent idea. Stuff does happen.

Bring a water bag for righting the boat.

PRACTICE using it with some other boats around you.

90% of my sailing is single-handed, and last summer I sailed almost every day. Leave the jib on and backwind through the tacks. You will become surprisingly fast at it! I run the jib sheet through a carbineer clipped to the lacing in the middle of the tramp so it can't get away on me. I've heard of folks using separate jib sheets and clipping them to the trap bungees. I haven't tried that, but I might this summer. I use an oversized water bag with a home made 3:1 block system. It is wrapped around the dolphin striker and the last bit pushed up through the tramp lacing. Works great, simple and quick. Practice in no wind with sails up. Then you are guaranteed to be successful in even a slight breeze - the heavier the wind the easier to right! Oh yeah - have fun!!

Mac

i weigh about 160, i can easily fly a hull in 8-10 kn with the jib on. when the wind is over about 10 kn i have more fun with the jib off. i sailed a 14 classic for a while so tacking the 16 jibless is easy. i do set up with minimum mast rake. i be very smooth and carve an arc into the wind with minimum tiller pressure while moving to the back of the tramp. i release the main and pay out extra line as the boat goes through head to wind to avoid stopping the boat. the boom should be free to move down 2-3 ft past center on the new leeward side. i move gently across to the new windward side and sheet in smoothly to get going on the new tack, then move up to the front of the tramp and trap out if needed... did i say smooth? i like the simplicity and great view from the front of the tramp while sailing uni.

not sure who well a power pole would work on a Hobie 16 - I think they are quiet long. IMHO the solo right is the better oprion if you would like to use the poile option. Patrick

I have heard that the power poles stick off the back of the tramp frame quite a bit. Not sure which way to go... I thought that the solo right guy gave up on selling them? Maybe a righting bag would be sufficient?

jrg

I only sail single handed and, like others have said, there's nothing like trappin' out in a blow on a H16. Here's my two cents worth...
1. Foot straps are a must - one on the hull as far aft as you can, the second as far aft as possible on the side beam.
2. I use the righting bag with a 5:1 system and have had no troubles bringing up the boat in light or strong winds. I store the 5:1 on/under the front cross beam snapped to riveted snaps on each end. I throw the bag up and over the upper hull, detache bag, insert 5:1, pull up back, lean and over she comes
3. I'm usually out in a blow and thus trapped out nearly all the time. I now use separate jib sheets that are attached to my trap dog bone for easy access. My jib traveller lines are separate and travel diagonally across the trap and are bungied to the aft corner of the tramp. When trapped out, you simply bend your knees and can reach down and pickup the line to adjust your in/out jib block
4. Get yourself a nice Harken 8:1 mainsheet. If your singlehanded all the time, you're gonna need this in the long run. Nothin worse than coming in early in a blow 'cause you simply cannot sheet in the main anymore (ie too tired)
5. You MUST wear you PFD ALL THE TIME.
6. Make sure you have slight weather helm. If you fall out alone, and are not tethered to the boat (another consideration), you're screwed.
7. You'll need to depower your main with any significant breeze - downhaul to the max when it's blowing

Screaming across the lake in my H16, beam reach, standing on the stern, 15-20 knts, ahhhhh, there's nothin' like it!!!!

PS On "BIG BLOW" days, I wear a wake board-type helmut just to add another level of safety - protection from outta control boom or extra protection if you plant a hull at speed.

Good luck man.

Ron

Hey Ron - what are you using for foot straps and how did you attach them to the hull?

Footstraps are simple rope inside clear plastic tubing. On aft hull, I simply drilled holes through outer lip of the hull, threaded rope through and tied a knot. You have to pull tight on the rope when doing the second to make sure, when you're done, you don't have a foot strap with more rope than tubing.
On the side beams, I riveted two eye-straps (one for each end of the foot strap) and again simply threaded it through and tied a knot. I have a total of four on each side - one aft on hull and three on side beam.
In medium to strong winds I must say the foot straps are a MUST with the H16. Completely different feel - you're more "attached" to the boat and much more able to ride through ups/downs and stops/starts.
I've had no problem with this simple design as outlined in the Hobie catalogue. Serve well as lifing handles when lugging 'er up the beach as well!

Hey, is there a better cat that you can sail single handed in a blow with waves up to your armpits than a H16? With the mast raked waaaaaaay back, you can beam scream with the jib and main travelled out, holding onto the main sheet for dear life and just hold on!

Another MUST is the under-the-tramp criss-cross bungie for your traps to allow you virtually unrestricted fore and aft movement when trapped out. First year I sailed the H16, I had a bungie for each trap that tore/frayed at least twice a year. After rigging my own under-da-tramp criss-cross (like shows in catalogue) I've been 3 or 4 years with the same rigging!! Easy to do yourself and cheaper than buying. A must!!!

Cheers
Ron

couple questions for you catron, 1.) how does criss crossing the bungies under the tramp for the traps keep them from fraying and tearing? 2.)isnt using footstraps while trapping a little dangerous? like couldnt you flip and break a foot or something?

Criss-Cross - if you look at the Hobie catelogue, the bungie holding the front port-side trap wire travels under the tramp to the other side, arond a pulley, back to the port side, arond another pulley and then to the starboard side to attach to the aft trap wire. And visa versa for the other two. This long pullied bungie allows for more movement and less wear. For exmaple, if you have it simply attached to the midline of the H16, your trap bungie would be 4 or 5 feet long. With the criss-cross, the bungie is probably 20 feet long!!! The most noticable advantage of this method is the near complete absence of bungie-pull when moving fore or aft when trapped out.
Foot straps - I've never had a problem but your point is well taken. The straps are NOT made tight and I've never had any instance of being unable to release my feet.
Cheers

Ron

Addendum - imagine your short bungie of 5 feet attached to your H16 midline and you stuff a bow and go flying. You travel MUCH more than the bungie can stretch = tear, wear, need for frequent replacement. With criss-cross - with 20 feet of bungie, you go for coffee at Tim Horton's and come back without feeling tethered.
Cheers
Ron

Hey Ron -

is there a chance you could describe the straps locations in more detail? Perhaps even post a photo?

Last year, I water-dragged the crew a couple times after she'd lost her footing in the waves. Straps should have helped here, even though we weren't single-handing.

Thank you for your previous posts. I appreciate it when someone knows his stuff, and shares it.

Best regards,

H77

H77, will attach photo later today and will scribble something on paper for you too.
Ron

should i still cross the bungies even though my boat has no pulley system you speack of? its an old boat

Absolutely, your boat doesn't come with this stuff, you have to make it.
The criss-cross is easy to make yourself. I'm at work but will draw you a quick illustration tonight on what you need and how to make it (along with strap photos)
Ron

one bungee run from one trap wire under the tramp to the trap wire on the other side is 10' plus of bungee, i've never felt restricted with this simplest of systems.

Me either. It's a simple system that doesn't require additional parts that add weight.

I agree the simple stock system is fine. I have been using it for 20 years and never thought of any need to improve it. There is a more noticeable restriction from the tension on the wire pulling me forward when I have moved back as far as I can go.

Howard

Newbie,
Can't find my photos of foot straps and boat is in winter storage in VT. Lemme know come Mar/Apr and I'll take a few pics if you want.
The criss cross is easy to make - you need about two 10' lengths of..say..1/4" bungie and four small blocks. In the central region of each bungie, you thread on a block, do a simple end-loop knot. Now put the other one about 3 or 4 feet from the other. You now have two bungies, about 10 ft long, roughly divided into thirds by these two loop-knots with the small blocks on them.
How, simply tie each end of the bungie UNDER the tramp - one end to the front pylon and the other to the back. Same on the other side. Bungie should be under slight tension.
Now, you need small/fine bungie in two pieces. I use small diameter stretchy black shock, nothing special. On each side, you secure it to the FRONT dogbone/trap line, run under the tramp to the opposite side FRONT pully, diagonally back to the BACK pulley and back across to the BACK trap wire on the opposite side to the original front trap line. Tie bungie with slight tension which now pulls the original fore-aft bungie inwards. This helps keep all bungie lines under tension and hidden up under the tramp. Now you do the same to the other trap lines. When your done, the port front trap wire is connected to the starboard aft trap line and visa versa.
I switched to this system 'cause you can trap out right over the stern of a H16 with absolutely no forward pull on your trap line. But hey, whatever floats your boat. If you think the simple system is better than go for it. I sail singlehanded and need to move fore/aft a fair amount and can do this easily with this system. With 2 on the boat, movement is more restricted and perhaps the simple system mentioned by others above will suffice.

Hope this helps

Ron

Ron,

It sounds like an interesting system and I'm sure it works for you. I singlehand most of the time and have had the standard system for 20 years. As I mentioned in my other post, I find more tension from the wire itself pulling me forward when I move back rather than the bungie cord. The further back you move the more of an angle the wire is at and gravity does its thing.

Howard

Ron, a couple quick questions, about how much does this system cost to set up and rig? as im a poor college kid... and how do you attach the pulleys to boat? when i trap out and get a good lean on the boat, i notice im almost being pulled the way the boat is angling, will this system solve this, or could i just slide the stopper down a little? thanks

Just something to consider. I had wind surfing straps on my boat for some time. They can be adjusted to be pretty loose, if you're worried about ankle damage. Plus they have the benifit of some support when standing on top of them (helps when chop hits your foot, but you don't want to be all the way back in the strap).
They are a bit more expensive than the rope method, but an old second hand pair may be cheap?
Chau
Clint