Loose Pylons

While starting my bottom job last night, I felt that there is some wiggle between my port hull and the tramp frame. I'd say the frame can be lifted about 1/4 -1/2 an inch before the hull lifts. Do I simply need to tighten the bolts of the frame? Any advice on how to properly tune the frame?

Not sure how old your boat is or how stiff your boat is, but if you decide to epoxy your frame, consider following the illustrated procedure by Gary Willcox in the "On the Wire" e-mag archives Vol 3, Issue 1, October 1998, Hobie 16 Frame Epoxy Project - Increasing the Performance of Your Boat that takes you through the process, step by step:

http://www.thebeachcats.com/news/82/how-to-epoxy-hobie-16-catamaran-frame-for-better-performance/

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

Generally, when someone is talking about loose pylons, they are referring to the bottom of the pylon being loose (broken off) inside the hull.

First thing to do is to figure out where the slop is actually occurring. If it is between the pylon and the corner casting, then that is a different repair than if the pylon has broken off inside the hull.

Either way, simply tightening the bolts that connect the frame to the pylons won't do anything. Those simply stop the hull from dropping off the hull. If you over-tighten the bolts, you risk cracking the casting.

sm

If your pylon has come loose inside your hull, these photos might help give you an idea of how it was initially installed.







The YouTube video "Anatomy of a Hobie 16" by Surf City Racing shows a H16 hull cut up into sections (WARNING: a Hobie hull was destroyed while making this video).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEZJd-LpUws



If you need to repair the pylon shoe, Rick Buchanan wrote a good illustrated procedure in Hotline vol. 38 issue no. 5 (Sept/Oct 2009) on pages 14-15: This Old Hobie: Pylon Shoe Repairs

http://www.w1dm.com/projects/HOTLINE/09 ... OTLINE.pdf

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL