Hobie 14...room for two?

[Greenheart]

Just watching footage of a Hobie 14 Turbo with one guy aboard, I see the leeward hull is almost entirely submerged. And, the guy is no porker...

...I remember the mid 'eighties advertising for these boats, saying this was the perfect performance singlehander, "with room to bring one or two friends, particularly the ladies".

Quite apart from the feminist screeches such a sales-line might engender today, I can't help wondering whether they ever put the idea to the test.

Granted, when any cat heels, her whole displacement presses the leeward hull deep into the water, so perhaps the Hobie company was counting on users of their 14-footer restricting picnics and sex-parties to days when the cat wouldn't heel.

Has anybody tried really loading a 14, two or three-up, in a breeze? Isn't it a one-way fast-track route to a pitchpole?

 

[William_H]

Hobie 14

Yes and yes. The Hobie 14 is often sailed with 2 people but yes it can be pitchpoled and capsized corner ways in strong winds and a bit of wave action. You just have to get the weight back as far as possible.
good luck olewill

 

[saltylegs]

14 feet with a trampoline of course there is always room for an extra 1 or 2
and if all else fails we can go for a sail

 

[Neil_Y]

So you're thinking cats now?

 

[EBoat126]

I had a Hobie 16, could capsize it forwards, backwards and both sideways. Great fun, especially in big winds and surf.

 

[vyv_cox]

A friend sailed a Hobie Turbo after his wife decided that she was no longer interested in crewing a 16. He was a large chap, not fat, and a very accomplished sailor. In a lot of wind he found it almost impossible to get his weight far enough aft to keep the bows up. On trapeze he sailed with one foot on the extreme rear of the hull and one on the rudder bar but still pitch-poled occasionally.

 

[photodog]

I had a Hobie 14 for a few years..... Used to sail it two up all the time... But its not a boat for feint hearted in its original main only set up....

Weight distribution is really crucial..... she has a tendancy to dig in and pitchpole if the weight is to far forward... or running downwind...

Without the jib she is difficult to tack unless there is quite a bit of speed on... so in moderate conditions you will get into a tendancy to jibe the boat... and this will lead to unexpected and rapid capsizes!

The Turbo configuration...(Ie with the jib and trapeze...) improves the boat no end... but in reality I would go for a 16 which is a easier boat to manage IMHO..

The 14 is a nice boat for a youngester to start out on in flat conditions....which is how I used it.

 

[Greenheart]

So you're thinking cats now?

Neil Y is refering to my recent questions about various dinghies.

At this end of the season, all my sailing is via Youtube. I don't expect to devote much of my attention to catamarans, but it's interesting to see what's possible if stability and dry stowage isn't a priority...

...I even wondered if a Wayfarer could tow a windsurfer, for those moments by a breezy beach when one would rather go nuts than sit securely.

 

[vyv_cox]

...I even wondered if a Wayfarer could tow a windsurfer, for those moments by a breezy beach when one would rather go nuts than sit securely.

Probably not, but a Hobie 16 will tow a surf board used as a ski at quite a respectable speed in a good blow. We have enjoyed doing this several times, and even towed two boards at rather slow speed.

 

[westernman]

I had a Hobie 16, could capsize it forwards, backwards and both sideways. Great fun, especially in big winds and surf.

I have never done backwards - presumably you need a lot of surf for that???

 

[westernman]

A friend sailed a Hobie Turbo after his wife decided that she was no longer interested in crewing a 16. He was a large chap, not fat, and a very accomplished sailor. In a lot of wind he found it almost impossible to get his weight far enough aft to keep the bows up. On trapeze he sailed with one foot on the extreme rear of the hull and one on the rudder bar but still pitch-poled occasionally.

Ditto on a Hobie FX One. When it wants to pretend to be a submarine, there is little you can do about it. You are already at least 10 milliseconds too late in reacting.

 

[EBoat126]

I crew a Hobie Tiger and downwind in big winds with the kite up I'm behind the helm. Toe straps are right on the back of the hull. Helm stays on the tramp and I wire off the back. Downwind isn't too bad as you just bare off in the gusts, the scary one is a reach when the apparent wind tightens everything up, you can't bare off and you can't head up without stuffing it in. One of the boys in our club used to sail a H14 very well but there wasn't a lot of fat on him. Pitchpoles were common though.

 

[saltylegs]

I have never done backwards - presumably you need a lot of surf for that???

I did it backwards last year in a rental in France when water had been leaking into the leeward hull and as we tacked down went the back end and whoops

 

[Greenheart]

Anybody know if Dart 18s are as flimsy as I've been told earlier, here? Some of them are pretty antique now.

And how many of the Dart's big sisters, the Stampede, were built? Production doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere, but the idea of a 20' cat with no centreboards or boom, is appealingly simple, fast, furious and unruly. Nothing seems to be written, anywhere.

 

[vyv_cox]

Darts are very lightly built compared with Hobies and Prindles. The very early ones are reputed to be lighter and used to be sought out by keen racers. The mast is also very light and will not take a double trapeze, although it's not often it would be needed as the sail area is so small.

Stampede was a brute of a thing, never very popular. Quite difficult to climb back aboard because of the high freeboard.

 

[EBoat126]

Darts are very lightly built compared with Hobies and Prindles. The very early ones are reputed to be lighter and used to be sought out by keen racers. The mast is also very light and will not take a double trapeze, although it's not often it would be needed as the sail area is so small.

Stampede was a brute of a thing, never very popular. Quite difficult to climb back aboard because of the high freeboard.

I think the Darts main problem is no diamonds on the mast so it's got very little rig control, add no downhaul to speak of, no boom thus no outhaul or mast rotation control (spanner).
Now and a again a Stampede pops up on Ebay. If you want the best bang for your bucks you can't fault a Hurricane 5.9, great boat, properly fast, controlable rig, still very active fleet and developing should you want to invest.