keel guards?

oes anyone have any advice on what to put on the bottom (keel) of the hobie 16 to protect it from rough beach landings? i had the thought of ordering keelguards like what powerboats use. also wondering if it is worth upgradng my old cross bar to the new crosbars that have the rail built in for jib cars?

Keel guards make it very hard to maneuver on the beach, when I was doing Ski rentals I put a pair on my ski's the 1st time I went to beach it I flew over the handle bars when the ski came to an immediate stop on the sand.

Just do a bottom jobs every few years and you should be okay, I did a bottom job at the end of every season with my rentals boats, my rec sailors are in the 2-3 year range.

The new cross bars are nice, what condition is the rest of your boat in, would hate to see new bars on soft hulls, and blown out sails.

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What exactly is a bottom job? We have tried 1', 2' and 3' strips of fiberglass cloth laid over there the thinest part of the pontoons were, and laid plently of resin, but it didn't hold.

What do you guys do?

so reglass it every few years? you saying it wont really hurt leaving it bare like it is then?.

as far as shape its a 1981 so its in amazing shape for the age, no soft spots on the hulls. i was wondering would it be ok to flip in over and let it ret on the tramp frame while i did the glass work to smoooth out the bottom of the hulls?

and i plan on etting new main and roller furler jib in a lil while, so a new cross bar will be a nice touch.