Putting a float at the top of my mast?

Ive scanned about 60 od pages of posts here trying to learn all that I can. (annoying that there are only 10 posts per page though!) One thing I havent seen mentioned is putting a float at the top of the mast on a cat so when you cap the mast wont go under. Ive seen it in a couple of photos but most boats Ive seen on the net dont have them. Are they considered "sissy" lol... Seems like a great idea to me. Where do you get them and how much are they???

Try searching on "hobie bob" or "hobiebob" or "mast float" or "mast head float" or "anti turtle." They come from Hobiecat.

And yes, people may laugh; but you should have the last laugh if it helps you.

GARY

Especially if the boat is old and the mast has the potential to leak 'cause you don't want to go right over with a full mast.

You can get them from your local Hobie dealer. The one I installed is the Hobie Bob. The problem with the retrofitting of one of these (at least on my Hobie 18) is that you have to rivet the pole that supports the float into the carbon comp tip. squeezing the rivets practically crushes the carbon material. I saw quite a few posts stating that when they flipped their catamaran the rivets popped right out from the impact. On this news I applied about 4 to 5 layers of fiberglass wrapped around the pole and onto the mast. I can guarantee that thing isn't going anywhere now. It is on there solid!

And as far as safety is concerned I guess it is about as "sissy" as waring a life jacket. Nobody really gives a Sh*t if you have a float on top of your mast or not.

Chargin,

No - they're not really considered sissy...most pictures you see here are racers and they're probably more concerned about the tiny amount of wind drag such a float would add. Very few people that have ever capsized a catamaran - especially anyone that's ever been turtled - thinks any less of anyone with one.

PS - you should be able to change how many posts are displayed on the page at a time somewhere in your user settings for this forum. I see about 30 or so at once.

Yes, change your setting. At the top of the forum page you click on "My Home" and then on that page, click on "Display Preferences." The default for number of posts to show per page is 10. I have mine set for 30.

I've got a good story.

I bought my first (and only, so far) cat from my boss for $100. A tetherball was attached to the very top of the mast. Being a newbie, I hesitatingly asked him what in the world it was for! He said it was to prevent the boat from turtling. I nodded understandingly, but inside I was saying, "No way am I going to get on the water with a tetherball tied to my mast!" It was the very first thing I removed when I got my new baby home.

My first few trips out went well. I got braver and decided to try the mighty Columbia River. The day was windy, probably 20 knots or more, with a few whitecaps, and NO OTHER BOATS on the water. I barely made it out of the marina and quickly decided I was not up to this kind of wind. I fell off the wind and headed to shore. But I could tell that I was not going to be able to point back to where I had started...it was looking like I'd land on the beach 2-3 miles downwind. I tried to point higher, my starboard hull climbed high over a wave, and the wind knocked me completely over. With no float on my mast, I turtled and was there for the duration. In the middle of the channel, only about 1 hour of daylight left, and barge traffic every hour or so.

After the sheriff's boat righted me, snapping a shroud and bending three cross bars, I was towed to the marina. The next morning I surveyed the damage and immediately vowed to re-install my tetherball.

Now I proudly fly my tetherball, knowing that it will help the next time I overestimate my ability and underestimate the wind.

My mast has foam inside, but it must not be sufficient to keep it afloat. I heartily recommend a mast float!

Milt Reynolds

Actually, you can make your own temporary masthead float. All you need is a ballon or two and some string. A typical ballon has a volume of about one cubic foot, so it will give you 62 pounds force of bouyancy in fresh water, more in salt. In addition, balloons are lighter than tetherballs. This will reduce weight aloft. It's also cheaper.

D. Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

When I got my hobie it had a bob on it. When visiting a sailing club I notice nobody had one on their boats. So I asked them why. So I took it off. Went out and flipped over. It turtled and the mast got stuck in the mud. Until a boat came along I was unable to get it unstuck. Needless to say it went back on the next day.
The reason they gave not to have one is: When going over at a good clip when that bob hits the water it's going to want to stop. With the boat and mast farward motion it's going to bend the mast. Any truth to this?

If you are not racing... use a BOB. If you are racing, just take it off. They are not sissy. They are VERY helpful.

You could also rig a float, boat fender, or tetherball to a halyard so that if the boat ever did go turtle, you could hoist (i.e. sink) the floatation to the top of the mast that is underwater. It would help you get the boat un turtled.

bending mast from a bob hitting the water? I doubt it. I would imagine the bob would tend to skim the water surface for a moment (LESS drag) or tear off before it would bend the mast.

Nova,

If you do a high speed pitchpole I could see you possibly bending a mast. A very unlikely event in my mind. Much more likely around here to stick a mast and bend it in the mud.

BTW I'm in St. Louis also. Where do you sail? Do I know you?

Mike Hill
H20 #907