Hobie 16
Encyclopedia
The ISAF International Class Hobie 16 (H16) is a popular catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
manufactured by the Hobie Cat
Hobie cat
A Hobie Cat is a small sailing catamaran manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company. Begun as a manufacturer of surf boards in the late 1950s, Hobie began manufacturing catamaran sailboats in the late 1960s and has become the largest manufacturer of small catamarans in the world...
Company for racing and day sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
. The craft was the driving force behind the popularization of beach cats and was recently inducted into the Sailing Hall Of Fame.
Introduced in 1972, the Hobie 16 is the second largest boat fleet in existence with over 109,000 boats built to date.
The boat is distinctly recognized for its asymmetric "banana" shaped hulls, designed to work without the need for daggerboard
Daggerboard
A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, countering the leeward push of the...
s so the catamaran could be run up the beach without worry. The rudders kick-up automatically by lifting up on the tiller crossbar.
Structure
The Hobie 16 is manufactured in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
by the Hobie Cat company, and by the Hobie Cat of America company in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Historically the French boats are preferred as they are perceived to be built to tighter tolerances.
The Hobie 16 normally carries two sails, the mainsail
Mainsail
A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast....
and the jib
Jib
A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...
. There is a kit to allow an H16 to fly a spinnaker
Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...
but this is only class legal for youth racing.
Each hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
has two pylons (the forward ones are vented to allow the pressure inside the hull to equalise) and the frame fits onto these pylons. The frame consists of four aluminium alloy beams which slot into four aluminium alloy corner castings and are secured with rivets. The trampoline slots along the inside of the beams and is tensioned by rope or shock cord
Bungee cord
A bungee cord , also known as a shock cord, is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usually covered in a woven cotton or polypropylene sheath...
. Racers commonly epoxy
Epoxy
Epoxy, also known as polyepoxide, is a thermosetting polymer formed from reaction of an epoxide "resin" with polyamine "hardener". Epoxy has a wide range of applications, including fiber-reinforced plastic materials and general purpose adhesives....
the beams into the castings to boost rigidity because the flexing of the boat as it rides over waves saps power.
Earlier masts
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
were one-piece aluminium alloy, but were changed to two-piece ones with a non-conductive composite fiberglass tip (known as "comptip") not for performance reasons, but after a few people in the United States of America were electrocuted
Electric shock
Electric Shock of a body with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles or hair. Typically, the expression is used to denote an unwanted exposure to electricity, hence the effects are considered undesirable....
trying to raise masts under power lines and their families sued Hobie Cat. The mast foot casting forms a ball which steps into cup-shaped shoe riveted onto the forward crossmember
Crossmember
A crossmember is a structural section of steel, usually boxed, that is bolted across the underside of a monocoque / unibody motor vehicle, to support the internal combustion engine and / or transmission...
and there is a Teflon disk separating the two. The downward compressive force from the mast is partially carried by the crossmember and partially by a stainless steel compression post and tensioned tie rod assembly called a "dolphin striker".
The H16 may be equipped with two trapeze
Trapeze (sailing)
In sailing, the trapeze refers to a wire that comes from a point high on the mast, usually where the shrouds are fixed, to a hook on the crew member's harness at approximately waist level...
wires either side to allow both the helm and crew to trapeze. "Cat seats" can be fitted to allow disabled sailors to sail the H16 without too much penalty.
The rudder assembly consist of a rudder on each hull fitted to a (Hobie patented) automatically releasing stock comprising a casting, a cam
Cam
A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice-versa. It is often a part of a rotating wheel or shaft that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path...
and spring-loaded plunger, so that the rudders spring up when they hit ground to avoid damage. The system can be troublesome until the correct tension is set on the spring. The rudders are connected to two short tillers which are in turn attached via a ball and socket joint to a connecting rod called the tiller bar. The tiller
Tiller
A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post or rudder stock of a boat that provides leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder...
attaches to the centre of the tiller bar and is typically extendable for operation while trapezing.
The mainsheet
Sheet (sailing)
In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...
has a maximum of a 6:1 purchase and has a traveller that allows movement over the entire aft crossmember of the frame. The jib sheets are of a 2:1 purchase and attach on the front beams with their own two travellers.
The boat has a 3:1 purchase downhaul
Downhaul
The downhaul is a line which is part of the rigging on a sailboat; it applies downward force on a spar or sail. The most common downhaul on a modern sailboat is attached to the spinnaker pole, though this may be referred to as the foreguy in some rigging nomenclature...
(upgradable to 6:1) to tension the mainsail and an outhaul
Outhaul
An outhaul is a line which is part of the running rigging of a sailboat, used to extend a sail and control the shape of the curve of the foot of the sail. It runs from the clew to the end of the boom...
(standard 1:1, upgradable to 2:1) to flatten the mainsail along the boom. Both the mainsail and jib are fully battened.
Tuning
In most situations, the H16 mast is raked back as far as possible. You are limited by the distance between the boom and the rear crossmember and the distance between the clew of the jib and the jibsheetSheet (sailing)
In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...
blocks. The cut of the jib was changed (date?) to allow further rake and low profile jib and mainsheet blocks are essential.
For maximum speed, the windward hull should be flying and skipping along the surface of the water. H16s do not beat particularly well, nor do they sail directly downwind particularly well. They, however, are proficient at reaching, so if in doubt, sailors are encouraged to sail at more reaching angles.
H16s at speed in choppy waters are prone to "pitch-pole". This is where the leeward bow digs into the back of a wave and if the main is not de-powered immediately and the crew's weight isn't back far enough, the boat is liable to trip head over heels.
Righting
When an H16 capsizeCapsize
Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...
s, it will normally lie on its side as the mast is sealed and positively buoyant. It is imperative that at least one of the crew immediately gets onto the righting line to prevent the boat turtling completely upside down as it is more difficult to recover from that position. With all sheets released, the crew stand on the lower hull. The bows of the boat should be pointing into the wind and the crew can facilitate this by shifting their weight forwards along the hull which will allow the wind to push on the trampoline and 'windvane' the boat head to wind. Both crew then lean back on the righting line ready to grab the bottom of the boat as it comes up to prevent it from capsizing to the other side.
It is far more difficult for one person to right an H16 without using additional equipment such as a righting bag or some device to slacken the shrouds
Shroud (sailing)
On a sailboat, the shrouds are pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side. There is frequently more than one shroud on each side of the boat....
.
A Hobie 16 can be brought onto its side from a fully inverted or ‘turtled’ position by a single crew member with relative ease. The technique involves one crew member climbing aboard one of the upturned hulls and sitting or standing as close to the rear as possible. Thanks to low buoyancy towards the rear of the boat, this should cause the hull to sink; the diagonally opposite front corner will rise clear of the water and the boat will come up onto its side. The conventional capsize recovery technique can be used from this point onwards.
Specifications
| Length | 5.05m (16' 7") |
| Beam | 2.41m (7' 11") |
| Mast Length | 8.08m (26' 6") |
| Weight: | 145 kg (320 lb) |
| Maximum Load: | 362 kg (800 lb) |
| Mainsail area | 13.77m² (148.22 ft²) |
| Jib area | 5.12m² (55.11 ft²) |
| Spinnaker area (optional) |
15m² (161.5 ft²) |
| Racing Crew | 2 |
| EC homologation category | C |
See also
- Hobart "Hobie" Alter company founder and creator of the Hobie CatHobie catA Hobie Cat is a small sailing catamaran manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company. Begun as a manufacturer of surf boards in the late 1950s, Hobie began manufacturing catamaran sailboats in the late 1960s and has become the largest manufacturer of small catamarans in the world...
- Hobie CatHobie catA Hobie Cat is a small sailing catamaran manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company. Begun as a manufacturer of surf boards in the late 1950s, Hobie began manufacturing catamaran sailboats in the late 1960s and has become the largest manufacturer of small catamarans in the world...