Greatest 18 EVER!!!

So I've been wheeling away trying to get all the boats ready for spring.
The 16 is in order, the 21sc is FINALLY finished!
and now I'm working on my baby...I bought an old 18 boomer that had been long forgotten under a tree. Cleaned the wings&tramp, re-laced everything with yellow urethane shock cord, scraped of the tree goo&lichen, fixed the glass and gel coated where necessary, polished to a mirror, added deck stripes, replaced inspection ports, bought all new black vinyl coated standing rigging,polished, painted rudder castings, EPO's, sewed up some rudder covers, and now shes ready to go except...
NO MAST!
the aforementioned tree had totally destroyed the mast! I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF A MAST!
Anyone near Cincinnati with a spare (preferably black, all aluminum!) I need a pal on this one.
I've really gone all out and want to see her on the water soon! Contact me ASAP if you can help! [email protected]

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Jack

I can't help you with the mast, Jack, but I wanted to complement you on the beautiful restoration job. How did you go about buffing the hulls and what kind of paint did you use on the rudder castings? In picture #4 it looks like you painted at least one of the cross bar end caps as well, correct? Good luck.

Jack,

I have the mast you need
Shoot me an E-Mail
MUST429 At aol.com

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

no paint on the end caps just a shadow in the pic,
I need a mast nearby, so far the best I've done is Michigan but thats still to far.
You'll understand if the prospect of a $400 mast with $600 shipping doesn't necessarily excite me! right now I'm searching local listings for a boat with bad hulls or something, but thanks anyway.
with the hulls I started at 320 and worked my way through the grits to 1200, then buffed it with 3m rubbing compound. It still needs wax and I think that'll really get her shining!
Usually I paint Imron or Polane but I used some weird a$$ auto paint that had more clear coat that pigment. It looks good but I don't recommend it. (thus the reason I polished& lacquered the lower castings)
The "tread" on the decks was really nasty so I taped over it with some industrial, no slip, rubber vinyl grip tape; probably the hardest part of the job! nothing about those stripes is straight its all one long slow arc....urgh what a B!tch.
re hemmed the leach of the jib last night, and made new UHMWPE rollers for the out haul.
Can you put a 6:1 down-haul on an 18??? I see how the stock on works but I've got a set of 6:1 crbo's left over from my 16's.

another BIG question, when/if you store the boat with the mast up how do you fold the wings past the shrouds, or do people typically leave them down?

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Jack

Jack, if you do decide to take my black mast I have an extra H18 5:1 "power downhaul" that I will throw in for free (in new condition). Costs $150 new. It is this exact model from catsailor:

https://store.catsailor.com/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=11829

This is one of the few downhaul systems that will clear the boom on the H18, yet has enough travel to work well. It takes a short footprint for the hardware to fit between the top of the boom and the bottom of the sail to get that travel, and this has it. Plus, there is only one operation needed (a single pin) to attach it to the sail - no need to reeve the line through the individual blocks each time you hoist the main, unlike some other systems I've seen. Installs in minutes with no holes drilled in the mast.

Highly recommended, it is the system I use because I wanted something that could be adjusted while out on a wing, would set up fast from the trailer (takes seconds, less time than even the stock system), and was low enough effort that even a kid could do it.

- Caleb

Yep, 6:1 downhaul works great on the standard 18. Class rules actually permit up to 8:1, but it's overkill IMO. 5:1 or 6:1 is just right. If you want to be able to adjust from the wire, you need dual exit blocks (one for each side of the mast).

As stated above, due to the location of the gooseneck fitting, you want to minimize the block height below the tack fitting so you get maximum travel out of the system. On my boat, I use a triple Harken Micro block tied tightly to the tack grommet so that it is compressed against the foot of the sail as close as possible. The Harken Carbo blocks are a pretty big diameter IIRC, so they could limit your travel and might even interfere with the rotator arm- you'll have to check first.

sm

Raining out urgh...

I've got "carbo air blocks" ???
they're 29mm
Harken No. 347 & 344

Any pictures of how to do this would be GRRRREAT!
I may be over complicating this, but i don't know the gap between the tack and goose neck.

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Jack

I think you could definitely make the H16 system work on the 18, you just won't have as much travel as some of the other systems due to the stack height of the upper block. The lower block you could mount in the same way that it's mounted to the 16's mast.

On my boat, I use a Harken Micro 228 Triple which is smaller than the carbo block so it probably allows an inch or two more travel. Might not sound like much, but when it's really blowing, it makes a difference as I will often bottom out or nearly bottom out my system in a breeze.

sm

We'll see i just have to rig the boat. up.

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Jack

Here is a pic of my 8:1 set up, I use big stainless s-hooks to attach the upper blocks to the sail. there is a tripple block attached to the lower sail track, under the boom, and 2 harken swivel exit blocks. This allows for adjustment from the trap, i tie the end of the line to the bungie for the daggerboards

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

right thanks, well after a full day of measuring line, trimming, and whipping ends I'm just about done. had to restitch the leach of the jib because the sun had devoured the old thread. got the mast sealed (bought a mast from Georgia for $120) made a new goose neck&spare. The original was pretty pimpy.
Why does the rod in the fore-end of th boom telescope out??
made the slug for mounting the lower blocks of my down-haul. Sewed up a daggerboard bag now I'm sewing up a trailer able boat cover out of the same stuff I made the rudder covers out of. Figure next week I'll have mast and sails ready for business. I'll post pics when i get em.

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Jack

Buffed out colored hulls are sweet looking. Store it indoors, and out of the sun if you can.

9 days of work, $30 in hardware, and some 600 odd dollars in material...moral of the story
BUY YOUR COVER FROM MURRAYS!
We'll sink some grommets on today, and then its DONE!
AND THEN ITS TIME TO SAIL

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Jack