Hull / Frame twist unequal

I bought my first Hobie Turbo 14 after sailing P16, Nacra 5.2 and a Hobie 20 for 7 years. Got it home, sanded and polished the hulls, had it sitting on 4 x 4 blocks of wood. I lifted the bow of the starboard hull until the port hull lifted, it was only 3'', but when I lifted the port hull, it was 6" before the starboard hull lifted. Same result from the stern by the way but reversed. Both the P16 and H20 had slight twist to them but they were equal, the Nacra was solid and had no twist. I've never seen a cat do like this before. I'm not worried about it, I'm sure it will sail just fine. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this or have any suggestions.

Probably some slight variation in the corner castings that allows the boat to twist unequally one side versus the other. Or perhaps a little uneven wear on one of the aluminum extrusions.

The H14 is a lot different than the other boats you mentioned. The frame includes pylons, crossbars, side bars, and corner castings, unlike boats like the H20 where you just have two crossbars held to the hulls with bolts which can be tightened. There's really no way to mechanically take slop out of the H14 frame. The first thing to try is to tighten the tramp as much as possible. If the boat's still too sloppy, then you can epoxy the frame together. That's really your only option.

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The forward arched beams are VERY hard to bend perfectly and often ended up with a slight twist that could account for what you are seeing.

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