Hobie Cat Forums

That dude can SAIL!!

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But how is he going to get back upwind in those conditions? I guess that is why the camera boat was there

That will be his next video!

It will be much longer... much.... much longer!

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older topic but interesting to me as I sail Sunfish. When comparing speed you have to decide if it speed through the water or time to a destination that is the measure. On most points of sail an AI or TI be able to hang with a Sunfish very well. One others the AI or TI may be faster but just to throw fuel on the fire...... A TI or AI will top out somewhere as they are displacement hulls, they don't plane. However the Sunfish will plane, like the Laser in the vid (used to sail those too). So if you could keep the boat upright a planing hull has almost no top end. My H17 tops out in the 22 mph range, my Wave around 17 mph, but I have had my Sunfish at 15 and could have gone faster still. Meaning I was still able to control the boat and felt if a few more mph were added to the wind I could have handled it. Given the correct amount of righting moment the Sunfish should top out a bit higher, the foils really being the limiting factor. However point to point, especially over great distances the AI or TI will be faster as there is less fatigue on the crew. Interestingly there was a Sunfish in last years Watertribe Ultra Marathon (EC first leg as separate race). He didn't finish but I wonder how he did to weather in 20-25 against the TI's and AI's.

VTwave:
If you put enough sail on a brick ( TI displacement hull) you can even get that to go. With my spinnaker and jib flying I have 265 sq ft of sail on my TI. I have been been 18 to19 mph and held it for quite a distance on several occasion now. Very wet ride though, as sometimes the bow is completely submerged.
I used to sail sunfish when younger, would go over quite often, have not tipped my TI in way over 2000 miles of sailing sometimes in pretty bad condition.
This is just my opinion but I feel the TI is much more versatile.
Bob

We own a Sunfish and AI. My son and I race each other informally. As reported, the Sunfish goes to weather better(sans drive), and under 15 kts the AI is faster off the wind. Over 15kts the AI has problems with steering unless significantly reefed which slows it down relative to Sunfish which doesn't have to be reefed for those over 175 #. Just let it luff a little. For comfort during an afternoon sail the AI wins hands down. For a difficult passage upwind in a narrow channel prepare to use the pedals a lot on the AI. I find the AI sails better with the pedals removed so it's back and forth for me. BTW, I have an early version rudder system.

Yeah, the new rudder completely changes the balance of the AI. It's not just better at controlling weather helm - it actually eliminates the weather helm, even with the rudder neutral. My take on it is that the much bigger area of the rudder blade moves the centre of lateral resistance aft.

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Yes this guy can sail!
How much wind is it?
How high are the waves?
Can anyone make a intelligent guess?

Now the big question!
Is this weather too much for an Adventure Island?

br
thomas

I'll admit, I threw out a hook there and you took the bait. I agree the TI is a more versatile platform, but that wasn't exactly the question. The TI is fast, no question. But as a displacement hull it has a top end. Past that no matter how hard it blows or how much sail, all it will do is dig a bigger hole. My H17 is the same, so is my Wave. Extremely efficient displacement hulls. The H17 will do about 22-25 but then no more. However a Sunfish will plane and if the sailor is good enough to keep it under him the top end is theoretically much higher. In that vid I bet the Laser hits close to 18-20 on a few of those waves. If the wave was taller and steeper it would have been faster still. Another area where the Sunfish will do great is deep down wind. You can sail a Sunfish very fast almost dead down, where a TI would like to be heated up a little. Over the course of a run in high wind the Sunfish will likely win. I have seen Impulse 21's beat 1-14's on a run despite being over 600 lbs. heavier and going slower. But here VMG was better. I did the CT River race 2 years ago in a Sunfish and while there were no TI's there was an H17 and 14. For the first 6 miles it was light and shifty. The Lasers and I were horizon jobbing the cats, till the river opened and the wind hit 12-15. Then the cats gained back and took over. However the lead laser finished within 20 minutes of the H17, on a 12 mile windward course.