Hobie Cat Forums

Hi All, anyone out their with experience on eliminating slop/motion between the hulls and crossbar? I keep the bolts tight so there must be something else going on.

I have a 1989 vintage H17 and am seeing a bit more movement than I care for.

Insight is appreciated.

Thx, Tom G

Tom, remove the cross bars, and check the end supports. They must be tight, with no movement.
Caleb Tarleton

The Hobie 17 has inboard bolts and outboard castings that fit inside the ends of the cross bars where the meet the hull (at the little hump). Those casting are likely loose. They have two small "fingers" pokeing into the glass structure of the "humps". This is the vertical shear strength of the connection. They are held against the humps by small screws and possibly by sikaflex or 5200.

Dis-assemble the boat and remove the hulls / crossbars. Reseat the castings onto the hulls. You may have to fill the small "finger" holes behind the castings with resin and chopped glass. Re seat the castings with epoxy or 5200 and screws.

Be aware... the position of the castings is critical for a tight boat / ability to re-assemble. Position the castings carefully. Pre-fit with crossbars and check proper positions.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Before you start taking the boat appart, insure that your tramp is tight. The tramp plays an essentual role in keeping the hulls tight and alligned.

The tramp tension is more of a key element of the 14 and 16 as they are required to keep the boats frames square. While it may help the 17, 18 and 20... the crossbars mounted tightly in the saddles is the key to stiffness.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Hi all, thanks for the comments. Boat is apart and all 4 crossbar attachements into the hulls are reamed out. Lots of movement. The placement screws had also pulled out which seems to be the reason I was beginning to take so much water into the hulls.

Plan is to reglass the hull areas where the castings seat. Same with the positioning screw areas.

Should be as good or better than new in a couple more weeks.

Matt (or others), one question on tramps. Mine is a 2-piece (without lacing up the middle). Could I gain structural strength by replacing with a 3 piece tramp?

Sail on, Tom G

Tighter is better, but the tramp is not as critical on the 17 as it is on the 14 / 16. Once again, the crossbars are seated in saddles and when bolted tight should be the stiffest (diagonaly) as possible.

_________________
Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

I have used various marine epoxys to glue the castings in place. I have had luck adhering to the glass but not to the aluminum.

Anyone know of an epoxy that will adhere to both?

Epoxy will stick to aluminum - if it's been prepared properly.

Sand the aluminum well to rough up the surface. That should provide a good mechanical bond to the epoxy.

If you want to get the ultimate chemical bond, you need to acid etch the bare (no anodizing or dye) aluminum with WEST System 860:

Could anyone post pictures of the castings and instruction how to repair them?. I most likely have the same problem and, since new to Hobie, have no idea how to fix this problem.
Thanks in avance

Bob

On one of our two H-17's, we replaced the screws with Machine bolts, drilled and tapped into the end castings. I think they were at least 7/16 in diameter. The end of the bolt extended about one inch into the fiberglass support. It was glassed and epoxyed in, and has remained firm for about 10 years. Just make sure you do not have any epoxy in the area around the casting cap, so the cross bar will slide all the way in. We also tighten the inner bolts after each day. Not a bad idea to have a spare hex bolt and support bar. They can break or sieze over time.

Caleb