Hobie Cat Forums

My "new" 1982 14 turbo came with a Hobie 5XXXX series main sail. There was only one set of tell tales, now gone, on this sail. Is a single tell tale set the norm for the H14?

It's normal from the factory, but you'll want a few more on it.

Ones in the front for setting the basic angle (traveller) and ones on the leech for setting twist (mainsheet).

Thanks. Those boats in the photo do not appear to be Turbos (without furling jibs). I'm a little surprised to see guys trapped out. I didn't think the stock H14 could take trapeze wires.

That photo is from the 2009 Hobie 14 North Americans in Toronto.

The "stock" 14 has had a class legal trapeze for 10+ years - you just need to have a dolphin striker to keep the front crossbar from collapsing.

Is the jib then not class legal? How much different are the newer boats from my '82? All of the older sailors around here who grew up with the 14 are telling me I'll never trap out on this boat. Your photo clearly defies that logic.

The jib is class legal for the 14 Turbo class - but there hasn't been any class racing in a long time for that.

North American Championships are only held for the orginal 14 - without the jib.

Every boat in that photo is at least 25 years old. I'm on 52350 (an '85) and I weighed 195 at the time. It was windy, but not overly so. Maybe 15 kts.

BTW, Hobie Cat "lost track" of the sail numbers in the early 2000's - even though my sail was a 52XXX series, it really should have been 62XXX - it was new in 2004. It's not much older than the other sails in that photo.

You need to be talking to Dan Berger in your area. He knows what's up on the 14.

Yeah, Dan is out of the H14 game except parts. He mostly sails his girlfriend's NACRA 450.

Nonsense! When it's honkin' more than I want to deal with solo on the H-16, I take my daughter's '83 H-14T out and have a blast on the wire. Some caution regarding weight placement is in order, but the thing really handles the wind, waves, and my weight (~175 lbs.) way better than I expected. A screamng reach trapped out behind the rear beam is an absolute hoot! Haven't crashed it yet, but, when I do, who cares. It's easy for me to right solo w/ no aids and go for more.....sort of like an overgrown windsurfer with a place for the beer cooler!

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

All right! That's what I wanted to hear. I'm thinking I should invest in a set of foot straps?

I put a little 3M non-skid tape on the outboard edge of the deck behind the rear beam, and have had no real issues with footing. While I admit I have not used them, footstraps scare me. I may be alone in this opinion, but, if I do something that propels my body into orbit, I'd rather my foot go with it! Even the hiking straps make me a little nervous....have heard horror stories of getting hung up, tearing ACLs, even being trapped by them during capsize.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16