Hobie 14 Refurbishment

Hi all,

I am refurbishing my good used hobie 14, plus adding some
upgrades to it this winter. I know it is already February, but I have
my boat inside a heated airplane hangar, where my dad works (owns the
shop), and am not planning on sailing again till may (I have high
school sailing starting march and finishing in june, so I will have
practice 3 times a week plus regattas-no real time to sail my 14
until latter in the spring and in summer). Along with this hangar
comes the skill of my dad and mechanics, which include extensive
metal work and fiberglassing knowledge. Just have a couple of
questions for all and especially those who have done things like this
to there 14/16 (similar construction). Any help is apperciated!!!!

A)Fiberglassing-Would be nice to have a keal plan, something I can
download would be nice! or a mailed copy, whatever someone has!
Theres a hole in one of the keal's and both are worn extensivly from
being pushed up and down my sandy beach for 20 years (the guy I
bought it from upgraded to bigger-we're pretty good sailing friends).
A plan would help to know exactly how to build up the keals again,
any advice from people who have done this before is always helpful
and appreciated.

B) Riveting-We need to order rivets, many of the corner casting ones
are working loose, need to replace (this is the area my dad has the
most concern with-every job is different). Am planning on ordering a
couple various sizes, am hoping the standard replacments will still
work, but we might need to go oversize?

C) Painting- Any reconmendations here? We have a VERY skilled
mechanic, one of his specialties being painting, might be a ble to
get him to do the job with a gun, he knows what he is doing as far as
paint goes but any advice from those of you who have done this before
is apperciated greatly (I know you exist-saw some threads a while ago
about this type of stuff!). We are planning on painting the ENTIRE
hulls, including the keals. We were thinking about painting the
crossbars black but the would need to be sanded and this might remove
the corrosion proffing? any suggestions????????

D) Mast- I understand in order to be class legal I would need a comp
tip (have a early 70's boat?-the serial # has been covered up w/
paint and can't be found). Am thinking of racing, is it worth it and
any suggestions? Also, the mast has a bend in it, more like a slow
curve, not immediatly noticeable but its diffenatly there if you look
up the front of the mast. How to bend back (heard suggestions about
walking along it) Also, any reconmendations on re-sealing it?

E) Dolphin striker and trapeze-this is the upgrade I am performing. I
tend to sail alot in 20 mph winds and sometimes greater and am having
a heck of a time keeping the boat down w/ a friend on board! Anyway,
have both the murrays striker and trapeze setup-any suggestions for
installing it (its a wire striker)-the instructions for the striker
are pretty clear.

F)Performance-In order to get my boat to my dads, had to sail across
the bay (live in maryland) upwind. It SUCKED. I could go across
easily, then needed to be towed to go upwind-couldn't head more than
30 degrees into the wind (up from 90 degrees perpendicular to the
wind, so about a 60 deg. off the wind angle). We sail mono's at
school can get 45 into the wind with them! Really, any more than 75
was cutting it, 80 was more like it. Also, I weigh 155, can't right
the boat myself (found out the hard way!)-am planning on getting a
bucket, but this doesn't seem right! my cat book says 150 can do it,
140 if your really strong. Any suggestions?

G) Is a jib worth it?


Thanks in advance!!!!!!!,

Sam

Sam,

I can't answer all of the questions, but I can hit a few.

Mast: Give me a call, I have a spare (straight!) comptip mast.

Rivets: Use a cold chisel to knock off the tops, then knock the rivets into the beams with a phillips head screwdriver. You can drill them out with a 3/16 bit, but you stand the chance of reaming the hole. I do a lot of drilling and haven't had a problem with enlarging the hole, but the best way is with the chisel. I use all 3/16" stainless pop rivets that you can buy at any hardware store.

Upwind sailing: The 14 is sailed best with a lot of mast rake. That and a new sail will make a big difference. If your sail is old and blown out, you will have a tough time going upwind.

Dolphin striker: Yes, install it! The Murray's one is what I installed on all my 14s--they are easy and they really make a difference!!

Jib: It makes it easier to tack and I find that downwind performace is greatly improved. Most 14 uni sailors sail dead down wind, but the jib lets you jibe like the 16s. I also found that you can't sail as close upwind with the jib, too. Since it was really an afterthought, there doesn't seem to be a lot of design to it, but I think it is a good system I'm converting all my 14s to Turbos.

I'm ordering a bunch of jibs at a discount, so if you want in, let me know.

Age of boat: One more thing, if they boat really is a 70's boat, it may not have the VIN etched on the stern. I have found that they stamped the production (sail number) on one of the pylons. If you see a number stamped somewhere, You can guarantee is is one of the earlier boats.

Racing: Check in to the Hobie fleet in Va Beach. We sponsor several races and had a good 14 turn out last year for our championships. Granted, I made my friends sail the 14s, but we had a class!

Hope this helps.

Dan Berger
[email protected]
757-589-6920