leecea wrote:
I am also thinking about a jib and I heard that one problem is that you can't apply much pressure on the luff because the bar bends. Can you just add a pair of bridle wires and adapt the jib to anchor off them instead of the spreader bar? Would that improve the jib setup or not make any difference?
I did this, and I'm happy with the result. I've heard of people breaking their spreader bars, so I did this.
I also added a vertical wire from these jib bridles up to the bottom of my forestay so that I can attach the jib to it with hanks. This gives me better sail shape on my jib. If you do this, make sure that you don't make this vertical wire tight, because you don't want to transfer the mast load to this wire. The angle that these jib bridles attach on the bridle eyestraps is wrong. Leaving this vertical wire just a little loose will assure that the mast load stays on the mast bridle wires where it belongs.
Also, do this at your own risk, as I doubt this is approved by Hobie.
Here's a pic of what I did:
Jim