OK, sailed a Wave for the first time ever this weekend at Madcatter. Even though I managed to flip it and tore up something in my knee in the process, I was very impressed with this little boat. Here are some things I observed (keep in mind how much of a die-hard SMOD Hobie guy I am as you read this)...

Awesome buoyancy! It would be really hard to pitchpole this thing. I'm very heavy, and no matter where I sat on the boat, it always felt solid under me.

Having said that, this thing REALLY needs a tiller. Like any boat, you want your weight forward when it's light, and especially when going downwind, so a tiller would really help. What's the downside of having a tiller on the Wave?

The boat I was on had a one-piece tramp. I would never buy one. Not only is it impossible to get tight enough, there's nothing to grab onto when the boat's on its side, or worse, to try to climb back aboard after it's righted. Especially with no dolphin striker to step onto, I had to have a safety boat helper pull me out of the water. I know, I'm a spoiled H16 sailor, and could just make a rope ladder if I owned one...

Downwind...wow, does this thing need a chute! I thought downwind on a H16 was boring in light air, this thing is boring downwind in all conditions!!! Now I know how Opti sailors feel!

All in all, I would definitely buy one of these, and think everyone should have one as a spare boat for those regattas when your crew bails, etc. Having a nice fleet of 10 Waves at every regatta would be an awesome goal.

Mike

The original concept was a simple boat... easy and fast to assemble and simple to sail. Less strings, less hardware.

The original tillers extended forward of the mainsheet making it unnecessary to have a hiking stick. That made it impossible for the traditional cat hiking stick. With the change to the EZ Loc rudder system... we had to move the tiller crossbar aft of the mainsheet. You can add a hiking stick, but for the beginner its still better without.

You really need to keep you weight aft anyway in most conditions, so again... no need for a hiking stick. Pitchpole? Heck yeah you can.

The one piece tramp takes some adjustment to get tight, but yeah... three piece is tighter. The one piece was part of the quick rig design for the car topper. You can rig the whole boat faster than you can tension the traditional tramp.

I don't know about boring in good breeze. Down wind is a hoot I think!

Thanks Matt. All of that is certainly true (the boat wasn't intended to be raced). These were just my observations after racing. Pleasure sailing would certainly be different.

This was an old boat with the tiller in front of the sheet. Still wanted a stick so I could go forward (H16 habit?).

It was blowing 20 plus in one of the races, and it was like taking a nap going to C mark. Dead downwind they told me. Every time I tried to surf, I ended up sailing on a higher angle and lost distance to the DDW folks.

Upwind was crazy! Only problem was my weight, I can't point as high as the light guys, and I kept stuffing the front crossbar (hard) into the waves. I was still very close to the leaders at the weather mark (even though I started late and footed like a madman).

I'm seriously considering buying one of these so I can sail with Hunter (3.5 years old now). He loved the H16 last year, but made me too nervous (he likes to go to the leeward side and look at the water no matter how fast we're going).

Mike

Mike,

The problem was the race committe was not familiar with the ICWA Wave course. They set B mark as an off set rather than a true reach. It should have been clear over by the shore. Then we would have had two hot reaches and only one DDW.

Believe it or not, those B leg reaches have a lot of passing situations, and scary submarine dives if it is blowing...like it did at times on Saturday.

I have lobbied for a tiller extension, but you really don't need one. It only helps the little people get way forward and that is FAST for them. Fat guys really need to stay at the back when it is blowin'. Otherwise you will be swiming with the fishes.

Mike, Check out some of my posts on the Wave forum. I agree with most everything you said, and have come up with a few (non-class-legal) cheap and easy solutions, ie: tiller extensions from Lowe's and my "spin-brella". I'm not sure they really enhance performance any, but in the right hands, maybe?

Hi Mike,
You are correct about the downwind legs. That is why the official class course is a triangle, windward, leeward finish. Thus, two beats, two reaches and only on boring downwind leg.

Another reason for only one downwind leg is we don't want to have weight minimums, and little people are much faster downwind.
Which leads us to the tiller extension. Big people can get farther forward, and then the little people only gain a few boat lengths on them. With a tiller, the little people could get farther forward, thus gaining a lot of boat lengths downwind.

I believe our class has thought all of those things out and have ended up with a very competitive class, where folks over 200 lbs and folks under 100 lbs can both compete.

As for a chute, I agree. Hobie has a spinnaker for it, but it doesn't work. I designed a roller furling Hooter and it does work. It is mounted as a masthead, and can be used upwind and off the wind. I have won several major races with this rig, beating a lot of H16s boat for boat, and even several Hobie 18s. Take a look at http://www.catsailor.com/waves/superwave_overall.html
I was working on a design where I could also carry a self-tacking, roller furling jib, a longer bowsprit with a bigger Hooter. It was during the Sandusky Steeplechase that I first tried it out -- I was staying with a Hobie 20 sailed by a top national sailor. Well, for a while.., then it imploded. I stopped working on that project, although it is most certainly do-able.
Guess the point is you could put a lot of sail power on the design because it has so much buoyancy. A few years ago a bunch of us thought about a Formula 14 Class. So, a bunch hopped up some H14s, and I did the Wave. The 14 does not have the buoyancy to carry a lot of extra power. They were faster, but always capsized.
Rick

Again, these are all just first impressions. The class seems to be very competitive and fun!

My point about the tiller was for when the wind is light. Fat guy on the back of any boat is slow.

As for the B mark at Madcatter, that's not Irene's fault (well, maybe for the first race). She wanted our input for how to set up the courses. Garbage in / garbage out. All we needed to do was tell her to move the B mark and she would have.

To really get rid of the DDW leg, why not just use all triangles? Or, have a course of two triangles then the sausage? The distances don't have to be long.

I should have stated, simple is good. Adding a chute would be fun, but not if it means over-complicating things, or adding cost and complexity that would result in less boats racing.

BTW, thanks for the boat Rick!

Mike

Mike
If you looked at Patrick's boat, he has the classic also and had a great way to get the tramp really tight with these turnbuckle things. Maybe he'd post a picture. I wish we would have had some freakin' wind in INDY a couple weeks ago! I was in first for a little while (then the wind kicked, switched and sent me waaay back......)

I will add a couple of things:

Tiller - I have tried the Wave with a couple of tillers and I just don't find them to be a big advantage. When the the wind is light, lay down and steer with your foot. It gets your weight where you want it and reduces the windage. Also with mast raked back like the Waves like it, the tiller interferes with the sail. Plus the tiller cross bar gives you something to hang onto when you stuff the nose.

Boring down wind - Solution race with 3-4 boats within 30 ft of you. Also a Wave can race head to head against against Lasers and such. One of the most fun races of my life was when the local Laser fleet was tuning up for the Olympic qualifier. There were at least 15 boats almost touching going downwind and in the last 200 yards the winded shifted to broad reach.


chute or hooter It is fun and can payoff on a big catamaran type course. On a small tight course, I seem to go slower. Also I have tried a couple of different hooter configurations and they are great when you have a reach. I think a good spinnaker might work better on a windward/leeward course.

Just my opinion

I LIKE windage DDW

\

Jack ,
Are you coming to the Duck Cup? If so could you bring your scales?
Thanks.

BTW, what the heck is a wave supposed to weigh? I think mine is heavy as hell (judging by the grunts we had doublestacking her)

Seriously? Dude...

IHCA class rules (on our website), 251 lbs.

Not seeing anything in the IWCA rules (on this website).

Mike

At the Duck regatta last Sept. I weighed all the boats and there was only an 8# difference between the heavy and the light ones. Mine was the heaviest at 259 and it is an '06.

When is it? My boats are in Ohio.

Naw, Jack, it is in PA.., fell off just after Erie.





NOT!

June 12 and 13

http://norbanks.com/store/Sailing-Regattas/

Oh...I was thinking in the fall.

What do you want to weigh Todd?

If someone from here wants to take them, I just need them back before June 20.

Hi All,

I've been sailing my Wave for two years now and found the lack of a tiller was a problem right from the start (I am very light). So I rigged one myself. I took the handle off a mop (over here we have mops with handles that can be twisted and then extended). So I mounted the handle on the tiller bar and it made a huge change.

Not had any problem going down wind but whether this is because I sail at sea so could "surf" on the waves. I also found that the Wave sails downwind Wing on Wing very well but don't know if doing this made a difference.

I'd tag on the back of races going up against Dart 15s. Although I was always at the back I never found myself way behind them so was impressed with the Wave's performance.

When flying a hull the oposite hull did sometimes dig in so I could see the possibility of it doing a sort of pitch pole diagonally (I hope I've explained that OK). I also added the optional Traveller to it but did not notice a huge difference in performance.

Regards, Tim

How do you do that with one sail?