Hobie Cat Forums

With my weight of 115 kg / 255 lbs my H17 seems rather slow in light wind conditions and it seems as if more buoyancy/volume would be benificial. How does the FX one compare in this respect (besides the fact that it can be equipped with a spinnaker)? And - forgive me!- how does the FX one compare to the Nacra Inter 17 (XL)?
What are the recommended crew weights for the H17 vs FX One.

Bart

Would like to know the answers to these questions myself

I was racing against a H17 at the last points regatta of the season. He is a much better sailor than I am and we were even on the number of finishes of who was in front of who.

Now... That was on the first day. It wasn't that windy but it was cold, and very gusty and I didn't throw the chute up at all. The 2nd day when I was flying the kite he was nowhere to be seen.

The FXone is quite a bit lighter, and it is faster going to weather. Plus 17's don't tack that well, at least in comparision. The FXone tacks crazy fast.

The first regatta i sailed my FX One in, also the first time on the boat, was in June of this year.

In the first race I was 5th out of 8 H17s to the weather mark against our strong H17 fleet here, but still finishest the race ahead of the H17s.

By the fourth race I was to the weather mark before any H17, I footed off and got more boat speed. Pointing wasn't working to well with the H17s.
Down wind isn't even close.

The last couple of regattas I have been starting with the Tigers and I find that I am in the middle of that pac so far.

So if you are comparing the FX to the H17 they are really two different animals. Kind of like the Tiger and the H18.
If you are looking for more to do and aplenty of excitement the added spinaker really provides that. Spinaker sailing on the FX is the deal if thats what you like.
If you like the streamlined funtionality, the H17 is the boat.

In either case you can't go wrong, you just have to decide which you want.

_________________
Mike Hensel
Hobie Tiger
Wind in your sails, water in your shoes, great day!

Here is a paragraph from anouther pub about single hand sailing,

"Single-handing a spinnaker boat would not have been possible without the development of the snuffer, which had been so successful for round-the-buoy racing in the Inter 18 and Inter 20 spinnaker boats. This permitted the single line spinnaker halyard and retrieval line to be used which speeded up the process of hoisting or dousing the spinnaker and cleaned up the trampoline of the boat. Another feature of the Inter line of boats was the rudder system which has a natural tendency to self center when there is no other load on it. This permitted the boat to be tuned with a small amount of weather helm when going upwind, key for safety, but still allowed the tiller to be left on it’s own for the time it takes to raise or retrieve the spinnaker. The process at the weather mark sees the skipper rounding the mark while adjusting the mainsail for downwind spinnaker sailing (sheet out a few inches, travel out a few inches) and steering to the new downwind course. Then the spinnaker is hoisted and then sheeted in. If the tiller is left alone during this spinnaker hoist, the boat starts to head up very slowly until the spinnaker is raised, then head down. By the time the skipper has the spinnaker sheeted in and grasps the tiller, the boat is near the correct course and the boat accelerates quickly. This is when the fun REALLY begins! The skipper steers the boat and controls the spinnaker to get maximum VMG and the sleigh ride is exhilarating! With single-handed sailing before spinnakers on catamarans, all the fun was the upwind leg, flying a hull and pointing high to get to the weather mark. With the Inter 17R, that fun was preserved, but now the downwind leg was MORE fun than upwind, and seems to go by very quickly."

This is but a brief desciption of the hoist and run down wind.
It isn't that difficult and the ride is well worth it.

I poached it from the Nacra Inter 17 site, forgive me.
The Hobie FX One definitely sails well and performs admirably when doing the same thing.

_________________
Mike Hensel
Hobie Tiger
Wind in your sails, water in your shoes, great day!

>>"The FXone is quite a bit lighter, and it is faster going to weather. "

Per IHCA Rule book-
FX-1 Min racing weight: 327lb
H-17 Min racing weight: 330lb


>>"What are the recommended crew weights for the H17 vs FX One"

Can't comment on the FX-1, but the "ideal" weight for racing a H-17 is probably somewhere in the 165 to 185lb range. In higher wind (over about 17mph) more weight can be beneficial upwind, but is generally considered detrimental downwind and in lighter wind.

sm

The FXone weighs 308 with out wings or spinnaker. Apples and apples.

Spin adds 18lbs, wings add another 36. My boat "should" weigh in the neighborhood of 362.

In my opinion weight is bad no matter what. You can depower the boat easily enough in windy conditions, but it is tough to do the oposite. Upwind you just pinch more, and down wind you run it cold.

I'm right at the minimum weight, (158#), for the boat and with the wings I can hold it down pretty well. Heavier crews probably wouldn't want the wings. Here's the cool thing with this boat though. The rules stipulate that the FXone "may" be raced with wings. So if its heavy air one day, and light the next, (and you're sure it's gonna stay light), take em off. I haven't tried my boat with out the wings yet. I like em too much. But in the case of a National Championship I would do it if it meant having a little more advantage.

I race my FX with out the wings and of coarse I weigh quite a bit more than Karl. So I don't believe I will be using the wing option.

The boat is suposed to be about 326# with the spinaker rigged. So it is close to the lightest H17s.

_________________
Mike Hensel
Hobie Tiger
Wind in your sails, water in your shoes, great day!

With the spinnaker it really isn't even a comparison anymore.