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 Post subject: new wave
PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:43 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:06 am
Posts: 3
hello. i recently purchased a wave and so far am pretty happy. i'm fairly new to sailing (i guess a sunfish doesn't really count), but this boat seems to suit your average recreational sailor. the boat seems to move pretty fast although i have no experience with larger boats and am unaware at their speeds. i was curious how much more the larger boats were and what the performance advantages are. it seems almost no one has the smaller, recreational boats while everyone has the 16's, tigers, etc. i was also wondering if it was possible to affix outriggers to this boat w/o voiding warranty, etc. thanks. and if i can answer any questions about the boat, since it seems this is a new section, let me know.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:24 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Thu May 06, 2004 7:22 am
Posts: 5
Location: Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard
I think the just the hull shape and overall part quality is what makes the difference. The wave and getaway are fairly new boats and are still making thier enterance into the market im guessing. The hobie 16s have been around for a long time.

As far as preformance goes, I'd be willing to bet that the racing boats just have more sail area (not to mention a boom) and more preformace hulls.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:25 am 
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Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:26 pm
Posts: 127
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
First of all, most sailors learned the nuts and bolts of sailing on small boats like Sunfish/Lasers. Just like most Indy 500 drivers started in sprint cars or smaller. Don't discount the experience gained from small, responsive boats. Larger boats are much slower to react, making it more difficult to learn the cause and effect.

The Wave is a great boat, but it's not built for the speed of the larger boats. Hull speed (theoretical speed limit that a boat can be pushed through the water), at least in monohulls, is directly proportional to the length of the waterline of the boat. I'm sure catamarans have different rules though due to the fact they're not displacement hulls, but it's probably still a factor. I found that my Wave was designed more for ease of handling, portability, and stability, which are great for entry level cat sailors like myself. Those things tend to be sacrificed for speed on the larger boats. Especially with sailing, to gain something, something else must be traded off. My Getaway is considerably faster, more responsive, and a little more complicated to sail than the Wave, and it's the "social boat". I can't imagine how fast the fiberglass hulls are. I noticed last night that the bows really cut through the waves, instead of digging in. I think this sacrifices speed for safety. Faster cats probably try to ride atop the waves, so there's less drag due to displacement, but the trade off is the potential for digging in that precipitates pitchpoling. The lack of a boom for safety considerably reduces the control you have over the shape of the mainsail. At least the Wave has a full roach main, which dramatically increases sail area. Even though it's rather small, compared to the main, the jib on the Getaway makes a big difference in speed, pointing ability, and tacking, so I'm sure the same would be true for the Wave. Waves have a growing racing class, so even if a Tiger zooms by you flying a hull at ludicrous speed, you can still pass another Wave by sailing it more efficiently. I found the speed attained on my Wave on close/beam reaches to be quite edifying. The Wave also has a spinnaker kit, and solo trap wire kit, so you can trick it out with official Hobie parts. There's also a Super Wave site that some guy with way too much time on his hands tweaked his Wave to the point where it's almost unrecognizable (http://www.catsailor.com/waves/superwave_overall.html). One thing I think is so valuable about the Wave is that it has the potential for getting kids involved in the sport of sailing at a relatively younger age, while still being perfectly suitable for adults. That's a pretty delicate balance. It's also very easy to right solo (at least at my 190#). Hindsight being 20/20, I probably shouldn't have traded in my Wave when I bought my sloop. I'd probably still have it, unless I would've traded it in on a Getaway, which is what I really wanted, but I was intimidated by the size. Anyway, the bottom line is that I hope you enjoy your Wave and I wouldn't be too worried about comparing apples and oranges.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 9:13 am 
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Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:06 am
Posts: 3
thanks for your post. i enjoy it very much so far. even though hobie lists the top speed as 17 mph, it still feels like you're going 25+. i'm new as i mentioned and posted a question in the open forum about pitchpoling. last weekend it seemed like it would dive occasionally and stall causing the boat to flip or nearly flip each time. i've researched this a little, and it seems that maybe i need to "rake" the mast rearward. i was wondering what settings you used as far as tensioning your mast. some people have suggested also using the 10 hole tensioning system instead of i guess the 7 hole. thanks for reply.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:05 am 
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Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:26 pm
Posts: 127
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
I never had much problem with the hulls digging in on my Wave to the point of catastrophe, and I never came close to pitchpoling, but I did tip over sideways a few times because the mainsheet was cleated instead of running freely to the skipper's hand. The leeward hull did plow pretty deep though, but they're so buoyant that I think it compensated sufficiently. Plus they're designed not to dig in like an H16, which are infamous for pitchpoling to the point where you can buy bow planes to address the issue. I don't remember adjusting the rake of my mast from where the dealer that helped me assemble it the first time set it at, and I was quite ignorant of my options at the time. Since most of my sailing is on sloops, I have little experience with raking the mast. However, all I've ever read on the various lists I joined when I bought my Getaway is yes, raking the mast aft depowers the sail. A logical solution to me would be an iterative empirical approach. Since you raise your mast each time you go sailing, next time out, take in the the shrouds a notch, and let out your forestay a notch. Take it sailing and see how it feels. It can only get better than your rigging's current setup if you're truly having a problem. Just make sure your rigging is snug to reduce shock loading and that your forestay is long enough. You can add shackles as needed if forestay length is an issue. Now that I think about it, I think I read once that a good rule of thumb was to let your main halyard hang straight down (adjust for wind), and it should hang one inch aft of the mast base for every foot of hull length. Don't quote me on that, but it might be a good place to start. Good luck and enjoy the learning curve. I know I am.


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