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 Post subject: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:17 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:00 pm
Posts: 10
Location: Paradise, Ca.
Brand Newbie here. After getting my wife on a cat at a resort recently she's now hooked and enthusiastically supported my life long dream of owning a Hobie 16. We went out last week and purchased a very sound boat from someone who seemingly took excellent care of the boat. Today we went through a dry run mast stepping in our front driveway. Quite the adventure...the first couple attempts failed miserably but on the third we successfully got the mast into position and the forestay secured. Keeping in mind no sails were raised and the boat was on the trailer on a pretty good incline the mast seemed wobbly. Is this characteristic or are we missing something? All the rigging was in place and presumably adjusted from the previous owner. With the nose up which pressure on the forestay this left slack in the shrouds.The mast had pretty much 360 degree "wobble". After the effort it took to get that sucker raised I want to make sure it won't come crashing down.Thanks in advance...I'm sure there will be plenty of other questions in the future.


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:10 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 15021
Location: Oceanside, California
The jib when hoisted becomes the forestay and tensions the rig by pulling the mast forward.

Check the rigging video (late 80's but still good info).

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12697

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxctIJVOAd0[/youtube]

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/hobie-16/

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Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:26 am 
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Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 10:44 am
Posts: 32
Location: SE Michigan
I've watched the video set a few times. We also discovered small cats on vacation last winter and took the plunge last year. We're still freaked out raising or lowering the mast. My wife is forever fearing it's just going to keep going forward. I'm getting anxious now the weather is finally getting warm.

I've never read or heard to tension the right so tight the mast has no play. I still worry about how much tension the rig should have before I take off.

The first few times out, I left it where the previous owner had it, and it would wobble back and forth a bit. Now I tighten up the rig using the adjusters so it has a bit of tension and very little play when I start out, as I'm afraid of the mast moving upwards and being demasted from a capsize and of pre-tensioning everything so much that it causes something to break. When underway, you can see slack in the lee side shroud. When I get back in, the mast sometimes seems like it has a small bit of play it didn't have when I started. I suspect the load and mast rotation helps find little bits of slack as things settle.

Important newbie errors to avoid:
    Don't forget to put the mast step link back in before you bring the mast down, failure to do so will have the mast launch wildly on the way down (very dangerous, we got lucky).
    Don't forget the scupper plugs, and check that they seat properly (hulls get very heavy when filled).
    When raising the main, catch those little hooks up top. (I'm still amazed at the difference it makes when the outhaul is released and struggle when I forget about it.)

This site is full of great info. I went through every page of the forum before we got out on the boat. The discussions here have saved me from myself a few times, and helped me look like I knew what I was doing when I had to right it.


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 12:43 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2014 3:00 pm
Posts: 10
Location: Paradise, Ca.
Thanks...I knew I could count on you folks and this site. I expected some play in the forestay after reading the set up booklet I was given but but with the boat on an incline on the trailer the amount of resultant shroud slack and the side to side movement caught me by surprise. With the teardrop flaot on top the first time stepping was an adventure. Talk to you soon I'm sure.Thanks again.

Kevin in Paradise(Ca. that is)


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:40 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 11:35 am
Posts: 261
Location: Memphis, TN
Once the mast is stepped, get your helper to pin the forestay as far down the 7 hole adjuster as they can. That will decrease the mast movement. Having a small snap shackle on the forestay will make things a lot faster and easier too.

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Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 9:47 am 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
As Matt said, the jib halyard is entirely what makes the rig tight. Without the jib up, the shrouds will be very slack and the mast will be able to move from side to side. It's normal. Pull the jib halyard so the shrouds are snug - don't worry, you're not going to break anything pulling tension on the rig, it is designed to take the load and the sailing loads are much higher than the load you're going to apply just pulling on the halyard.

Keep in mind that no matter how tight you set the rig, the leeward shroud will always go slack when sailing upwind or on a close reach. This is because when you tighten the mainsheet, the mast bends and the distance between the mast tang and the mast step shortens causing slack in the leeward shroud. Again, this is normal.

sm


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:01 pm 
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Joined: Thu May 23, 2013 12:02 am
Posts: 165
Location: London
Hi Twoinch,

Welcome to the world of H16 cat sailing.

I purchased a used 80's H16 last year.
The mast came with bob float at the top. Well I tell you two of us had a job raising the mast.
After watching the video above I new something was a miss as I couldn't believe the chap in the video could raise the mast so easily.
The only thing I could factor in was the float. So I decided to take it off.
What a difference it makes I actually over compensated when raising the mast without the float and nearly shot off the front of the boat, the mast actually stopped me :-)

Another point to make is that I do not have a mast step so what I do is balance / rest / hook the mast base foot under the small pin in the mast step I then tie a piece of rope to the mast through a cleat over the front beam and around the dolphin striker, I then cinch it up by employing a Trucker Hitch which is a compound knot consisting of an Alpine butterfly (Lineman's loop) and a hitch it basically acts as a crude block and tackle to tension the line. Tip do not cinch it up too tight as it could cause damage, but it does secure the mast quiet well when stepping.

As for the slack in shrouds, as previously mentioned the jib will take this slack up when installed. You could also use a lower hole in the shroud adjuster which is what I do, this also produces more mast rake.

Truckers Hitch:
https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/truckers-hitch/

SRG

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Hobie 14 Turbo (~1979)
Hobie 16 Carumba (1983)
Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:38 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:27 pm
Posts: 576
Location: Central Oregon
Get yourself a mast step link!

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1980 H16


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 2:06 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:00 pm
Posts: 68
A couple of simple ideas that have worked well for me...

Get a mast step link. Goes at the base of the mast and prevents rotation while offering a "hinge" to make things less scary. Secondly, I bought a couple of harken blocks and some halyard line to assist in the stepping and lowering - I connect one end of the line to the mast support at the front of the trailer, run it through a block attached to the mast where the stays connect, take it back to the second block also connected to the trailer next to where the line is attached and then to me. Offers some security and ease in raising/lowering the mast.

Good luck and happy hobieing!


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 2:14 pm 
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Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:35 pm
Posts: 626
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
dexter wrote:
A couple of simple ideas that have worked well for me...

Get a mast step link. Goes at the base of the mast and prevents rotation while offering a "hinge" to make things less scary. Secondly, I bought a couple of harken blocks and some halyard line to assist in the stepping and lowering - I connect one end of the line to the mast support at the front of the trailer, run it through a block attached to the mast where the stays connect, take it back to the second block also connected to the trailer next to where the line is attached and then to me. Offers some security and ease in raising/lowering the mast.

Good luck and happy hobieing!

How do you get the blocks off where you connect them to the mast, this is 14' or more up???
You can kinda do the same thing with your jib halyard.


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 Post subject: Re: Wobbly Mast
PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 3:45 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:27 pm
Posts: 576
Location: Central Oregon
sxrracer wrote:
You can kinda do the same thing with your jib halyard.


Ya that...add some line to jib halyard and run it from that to an eye bolt on trailer mast stand and back to a jib cleat or cleat on the mast base.
That plus a speaker tripod (cheap on amazon) and you will be solo stepping/lowering mast ez pz.

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1980 H16


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