Hobie Cat Forums

I recently purchased a Hobie cat 14 and I need to get a righting line. I am looking for some suggestions on what kind to get. I don't have a dolphin striker on my cat yet but plan to in the future ( I read that some people use that as an attach point ). I have heard people talk about shockcord type lines and others have said just plain line will work. If anyone has a link they can post about the product they like it would be greatly appreciated. Looking for something easy to use and affordable I'm trying to upgrade other parts on the boat without sinking to much cash into it.

Thanks

Hmm no ideas?

Take a look here for some of your options. There are many ways to do it and they all seem to work fine. Most of it us up to personal preference.

I originally had the big stretchy bungee on mine which worked fine, but I came across a Hawaiian righting system for cheap so I installed that. The hawaiian system is nice because it is retractable so it stays out of the way when you don't need it but gives you plenty of line when you do. The stretchy bungee is retractable also but I didn't like the look of it laying on my hulls.

Just a simple line tied to the dolphin striker and then thrown over the upper hull works fine as well. If you don't have a dolphin striker I would guess you can tie it somewhere on the front beam maybe around the mast step.

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-Zach
Hobie 16 for sale
West Lafayette, IN (school)
Melbourne, FL (summer)

On my H-16 I tie a line to a front stanchion then run it across to the other stanchion and tie it off. I run it through the dolphin striker/cross beam so it doesn't sag while sailing. If I need it, I untie the down side and throw it over the hull. After, it is easy to pull it back across and retie it. On a 14 without dolphin striker, it should work ok if you put some tension on it to keep it from sagging.

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Howard

I don't like the self retracting/bungee systems because they always seem to be adjusted to the wrong length. Either you don't have enough line to work with, or it's too long and your rear end is in the water.

I find a basic righting line works just fine. You can buy a 15 to 20 foot length of "hollow braid" from murrays. If your boat doesn't have a dolphin striker, then tie off to the center of the front crossbar at the mast step (go through the opening in the tramp lacings. You can then either buy a clip-on tramp pouch and stuff the line in there, or weave it through the tramp lacings so it's up and out of the way. If you go across the front pylons, it will probably drag in the water without a dolphin striker to hole it up.

sm

I do a combo style, the Stretch 'bungie' line with a couple small loops w/hooks to clip the excess to the underside of the rear tramp laces. I agree with SRM that the bungie system alone does not return to a uniform tightness. Also, to get the tightness you want when under sail, you don't get the length of line you want to right the boat when capsized. To fix that I use 2 - 2" loops of 3/16 line attached to plastic retainer hooks. The loops slip over the righting line so I can hook the line to the underside of the outer lacings of the rear tramp (port and starboard). When flipped I just unclip the hooks and right the boat, then after righting reach under the rear crossbar, grab the righting line and rehook it. Fairly simple and works well for those of us that already have the bungie system.

I was wondering how people like the retractable systems. I think I will just go with the hollow braid and keep it simple.

Thanks

This may be obvious, but be sure to get something large enough diameter that it's easy on your hands. I use a cheap bit of stranded nylon "docking line" attached per srm that's about 1/2" diameter.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

I was going to post this a week ago but i had lost connection.
i use this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLUE-HOBIE-RIGHTING-LINE-NEW-HOBIE-CAT-16-18-17-/320688950057?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item4aaa8d0b29&vxp=mtr

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http://youtube.com/optikid16030

1983 Hobie 16 Cat fever #55697
2008 Laser Radial/4.7 #190471
S.S.S.
S.Y.S.P

OK, I capsized for the first time today. I have sailing pretty tentatively, not knowing if I could right it alone, not wanting to break something, etc.

First off, when going over, everything happened in slow motion. No problems breaking anything, the boat never tried to turtle. I was in shallow water so I walked around and uncleated everthing, then turned it facing into the wind.

For other reasons, I had left a line tied between the pylons that had been dragging in the water, but in the end, it saved me. I was able to stand on the bottom hull and flip it over the top hull, then I put it behind my shoulders and leaned back. I was able to get the sails to start filling up and out of the water, but am too light to get the mast up. I flagged down a cute young lady on a jetski and as soon as she climbed up on the lower hull, up came the mast! I only weigh about 175 lbs. Thinking about it more, I think had I just walked back on the hull toward the rear of the boat, I may have been able to get it up alone. I am going to add another line on the left side of the boat just like I happened to have on the right side, and use a bungee to tie it up under the tramp. This system costs about $5 and seems to work fine!

One note, when in that shallow of water (waist deep) you need to have a plan when the boat comes down. In deep water you can just sink a little in the water while hanging on underneath.

The only thing I lost was my eyeglasses. I didn't realize I lost them until I sailed away, or I probably could have found them.

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Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"

floaty croakies rule

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1980 H16
1997 Wave