h16 maintenance

hello all. my son and i bought a hobie 16 a couple weeks ago. we drove from fla to indiana to get it, thinking that the boat as described for the amount of $$$ wanted was a good deal. IT WAS! it's an 86 model, no spider web cracking, sails good, most rigging good, ect. we're happy buyers. so the reason for the post: i bought new 7' shock cords for the traps. I just threaded under the cross bars and tied to the trap adj. ropes. my question is, should i be threading through something to keep them in place. my g cat shock cord threaded through the lacing on the tamp sides, my h18 threaded through gromets, my 18sq threaded through gromets. there don't appear to be any h16's in north fla this time of year to check out. any suggestions?

No you dont need to thread em thru anything... generally they stay in place as long as the rig is tight enough. If you thread them thru, you find problems in the future when shifting poisitions along the grip tape when ur out on the wire (i.e. if its fairly light winds, you will move to the front of the boat, whereas in heavier winds/swell, you will want to move as far back as possible.

Note: there are small holes on the edge of the tramp near where the shrouds are, where some ppl thread their shock cord thru. I think its a personal preference thing...im always worried that in the pitch pole if the cord cant move, it will more easily and more often snap...instead of letting you hook out before.

I had an H16 for years and was always aggrevated by the shock cords moving around. I never did it, but I saw some people put padeyes under the side rails and run the shock cords though them. I liked to remove mine for trailering so I never bothered, but it did keep thiers from sliding all over the place. They were alos able to move any where they wanted while trapping. Just get good quality shock cord.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

On page 17 of this years Hobie catlogue there is a set of stays that you can screw into the siderail to keep the shock cord in place. I was thinking about getting some myself actually.