A Hobie 16 'The Pig' in action on Pittwater, Australia

See Also: Hobie 16 subsection of Hobie cat entry

The ISAF International Class Hobie 16 (H16) is a popular catamaran manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company for racing and day sailing. A Hobie Cat is a small Catamaran (or two-hulled sailboat manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company of Oceanside California USA A catamaran (From Tamil 'kattumaram' is a type of Multihulled Boat or Ship consisting of two hulls or vakas joined by some A Hobie Cat is a small Catamaran (or two-hulled sailboat manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company of Oceanside California USA Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force The craft was the driving force behind the popularization of beach cats and was recently inducted into the Sailing Hall Of Fame.

Introduced in the late 1970s, 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 daggerboards so the catamaran could be run up the beach without worry. A daggerboard is a retractable Keel used by various Sailing craft The rudders kick-up automatically by lifting up on the tiller crossbar.

Structure

The Hobie 16 is manufactured in France by the Hobie Cat company, and by the Hobie Cat of America company in the United States. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the 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 and the jib. A mainsail is the most important sail raised from the main (or only mast of a sailing vessel A jib (also spelled jibb) is a triangular Staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat There is a kit to allow an H16 to fly a spinnaker but this is not class legal for racing. 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

Each hull has two pylons (the forward ones are vented to allow the pressure inside the hull to equalise) and the frame fits onto these pylons. A hull is the body of a Ship or Boat. It is a central concept in floating vessels as it provides the Buoyancy that keeps the vessel from sinking The frame consists of four aluminium alloy beams which slot into four aluminium alloy corner castings and are secured with rivets. A rivet is a mechanical Fastener. Before it is installed it consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end The trampoline slots along the inside of the beams and is tensioned by rope or shock cord. A bungee cord is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core covered in a woven sheath usually of nylon or cotton Racers commonly epoxy the beams into the castings to boost rigidity because the flexing of the boat as it rides over waves saps power. In Chemistry, epoxy or polyepoxide is a Thermosetting Epoxide Polymer that cures (polymerizes and crosslinks when mixed with a

Earlier masts 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 trying to raise masts under power lines and their families sued Hobie Cat. The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts The mast foot casting forms a ball which steps into cup-shaped shoe riveted onto the forward crossmember and there is a Teflon disk separating the two. A crossmember is a section of steel usually boxed that is bolted across the frame of a vehicle to support the Engine and/or transmission. 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 has two trapeze wires either side to allow both the helm and crew to trapeze. 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 "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 and spring-loaded plunger, so that the rudders spring up when they hit ground to avoid damage. A cam is a projecting part of a rotating Wheel or shaft that strikes a Lever at one or more points on its circular path 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 attaches to the centre of the tiller bar and is typically extendable for operation while trapezing. A tiller or till is a Lever attached to a Rudder post (American terminology or Rudder stock (English terminology of a boat in order to provide

The mainsheet has a maximum of a 6:1 purchase and has a traveller that allows movement over the entire aft crossmember of the frame. In Sailing, a sheet is a line ( Rope, Cable or Chain) used to control the moveable corner(s of a Sail. 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 (upgradable to 6:1) to tension the mainsail and an outhaul (standard 1:1, upgradable to 2:1) to flatten the mainsail along the boom. The downhaul is a line which is part of the rigging on a Sailboat; it applies downward force on a Spar or Sail. An outhaul is a line which is part of the Running rigging of a Sailboat, which is used to extend a Sail, and control the shape of the curve of the Both the mainsail and jib are fully battened. It is said that hobi 16s are great to ride on.

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 jibsheet blocks. In Sailing the parts of a Sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail In Sailing, a sheet is a line ( Rope, Cable or Chain) used to control the moveable corner(s of a Sail. 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. Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force They reach really well though, so if in doubt, sail the more reaching angles. Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force

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 over head over heels. Windward is the direction from which the wind is blowing at the time in question

Righting

When an H16 capsizes, it will normally lie on its side as the mast is sealed and positively buoyant. The common definition for capsized refers to when a Boat or Ship is tipped over until disabled 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 far 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. a Sailboat, the shrouds are pieces of Standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side

Specifications

See also

• Hobart "Hobie" Alter company founder and creator of the Hobie Cat
• Hobie Cat

External links

• HobieCat Company's Hobie16 page