GIVE US A SPINNAKER KIT

Assuming the Hobie people watch these forums....

Please give us a spin kit. Maybe adapt the FX-One spin kit for use on our old 17's

I'd buy it as soon as I fetched enough money from under the couch cushions

Hi Maughan,

Yes I agree with your request for a legal Hobie Spi Kot for the H17.

The H17 always seems to be left out of the Hobie R&D...as we STILL have delaminating mainsails ...have to borrow our rudder castings from our bigger brother....get our Super Jib from our bigger brother...and who knows what else we also borrow....is nothing designed for the H17 anymore.

It is a strong dependable platform, that many of us are proud to own and sail....we sure would like to see Hobie R&D come up with ways to improve our Mylar sail life and to develop a Spinnaker or Hooter setup that is Class legal.

Let's develop our H17 Sports / SE's into a H17 SX w/Spi....or is it that Hobie want us to abandon our H17's and purchase the more expensive and more fragile platform than many of us currently own.

I hope Hobie ethics include looking after their current and loyal customers by developing ways to improve their "Current and Loved" Hobie Cats.

Nige

Certainly looks like the FX One spinnaker can be adapted to the Hobie 17. We don't make many kits for boats unless there is a large demand. This one would be up to the dealer or user to adapt.

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

Nigel,

Understand that Hobie Cat is "between a rock and a hard place" with issues regarding changes to the Hobie 17. This is an IHCA recognized class. That means that the IHCA determines what can be changed or considered as class legal. This is one reason we developed the 17 Sport. The Sport is not an IHCA class. This allowed us to continue building the 17 platform for many more years than it would have been built if it were just an unchanged racing version. We made it easy to convert back to the race version so more people might get involved in racing.

Here is a rundown on the issues about delaminating mylar sails that I just wrote for another forum...

<<Back in 1985/86 the 17 sail was designed with the Mylar Dacron laminate cloth. The sails were top of the line when designed back in 1985. The cloth is from the most respected supplier in the World, Tejin. As I recall, this was the top choice for cloth of it's kind for many manufacturers at the time. Due to the "One Design" class structure, we are unable to change the design or materials without Hobie Class approvals and honestly, I think the material is not the issue here. Skip Elliot has no knowledge as to the history or class issues, but does realize that this "is not a defect".

First, If the sails are new or within one year old, they should be talking to their dealer for warranty consideration. I suspect that this is not the case and that the sails are older. There is no claim history on this issue, so I know that this has not been an ongoing problem or we would have been hearing about it.

Second, Mylar laminate, of any type, has the de-laminate possibility. Mylar by itself is low stretch but has no strength for abrasion and cutting issues. It explodes. That is why it is laminated to another material. You gain strength and color with the lamination to Dacron. This was not a "it is what they were willing to get"... it was and is the best cloth of it's type available. It is a well known fact that there are choices, Dacron is the longest lasting and Mylar is the least stretch. Dacron stretches and loses it's shape. Mylar fails over time by cracking or tearing. Mylar is used for the performance issues. That's the choice. It's just that Hobie sailors think that everything should last forever, just like the old Hobie 16's... Don't forget, they have old baggy sails.

One other issue here is related to the post by a guy with a sail that de-laminated over a week in storage. I would hazard a guess that the delaminating was already in progress. I would also guess that there was a problem in that the sails were wet and stored in heat. The moisture in the Dacron expands in heat and could have caused a sudden visible difference in the delaminating progress.

As for the post that mentions a Class action lawsuit? I love that. I guess this is what we have come to in the USA. Pretty sad thinking really. Once again, this is a Hobie Class Association issue. If there is a "Class Action" anything here, it is the 17 sailors getting together and deciding that the class needs to take some action and change the rule for a more modern cloth.

Certainly we want to hear about any sails that are relatively new and having a problem like this.>>

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

In response to the above post

"...develop a Spinnaker or Hooter setup that is Class legal."

For changes/upgrades to the class rules of the Hobie 17 please contact your Hobie Class Association - IHCA

http://www.hobieclass.com/

I think Hobie took a step in the right direction with the sport package. Not everything has to be dictated by the class, in fact, I'd wager that if put to the class, it would be denied. The H17 one-up is a singlehanded racer without much of a reason to upgrade to a spi. However, there is a sizeable minority of us 17 sailors that DON'T class race, and could care less about class rules. I race open class when I do race, and would benefit enormously with some sort of spi/reacher.

On another note, the only thing missing from my "spi" setup are a set of diamond wires for my mast, and a reacher itself

I use the stock 17 Sport foil and roller furl, but had Bob Curry cut me a 190 square foot Penatex reacher to go with my Pentex squaretop. Didn't like stock jib and setup. Hard to sheet. I am going to race Portsmouth in the Wed. night races on Clear Lake. Still getting use to setup, but VERY fast, especially in light air. Blocks are 18 inches off rear crossbar. REAL big sail.

Doug Snell
[email protected]
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