Hobie Cat Forums

It's easy to prevent. Just put a dollop of automotive antifreeze in the wing tube socket at the beginning of winter and cover the hole to prevent gross egress of water (a little is OK).

Flush it out in the spring.

Wing sockets ... Sorry for the typo. Pockets of wind are not of a concern.

A quick way to test for leaks is to fill wells up with water and see if the water level goes down. Better method is a bubble test. You would need to apply pressure to a hull and then spray soup water on suspect area. If you see bubble forming in the wing wells, then you've found a crack. I use a rechargeable air-pump to blow air into the drain holes. Need to be careful here -- too much pressure may damaged the hull.

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H17

This is a more comprehensive list of issues to check:

http://www.sailingproshop.com/catamaran_guide.aspx

There is another list for H17 in this forum, but you will have to search.



Yes, it is a Mylar laminate. If you see pieces of Mylar peeling off, it is a goner. It will get blown very quickly. Then you may face a $1-2K expense.

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H17

1st of all, Hookey37, sorry for jumping in you thread here..but all of it is related I think.
JackB, I went to the Sailingproshop link and found this statement

"The 17 sport is popular in the Midwest as a recreational boat but lacks the buoyancy necessary to sail in ocean and have a really fun ride."

Can anyone comment on this with an eye to single handing in pleasure boating ocean conditions? That would be 2 to 5 foot waves with fairly long periods between...not chop but just normal summer ocean conditions. Is the 17 the wrong boat for me? Is that why they have crossbar issues, because they are being pushed too hard in conditions they were not designed for?

Also, as they were produced for some years, did Hobie ever improve the crossbar quality in the later ones or replacement parts? $1000 for replacements is not insignificant.

I rented a H17 in Phuket Thailand and sailed with 2 people on board all day in moderate wind and waves. Our combined weight was about 340 lbs. We had no troubles with buoyancy. I don't understand the whole ocean issue, things are more buoyant in salt water than fresh water.

I have 2 H17 Sports in San Diego and we sail and race in the pacific ocean regularly.

Handles well and always fun. Wings are good for hiking and keeping you above the chop.

I would caution against running your H17 (or any other multihulls) up on the beach. It wears on the hulls un-necessarily and even though dagger bards are retractable, they also wear and break. I always prefer to avoid unnecessary repair and expense.

David

The answer is, everybody needs an 18 AND a 17. No way around it.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

Sounds like a 17 is ok in the kind of sea I will experience...Maybe divimon2k has it right though a 17, an 18 and I will toss in a 358GTC to get to them in!

Hey guys I'm I fairly experienced sailor and have sailed sunfish lasers hobie 16s hobie 18s and flying scots. I am I'm the market for a boat. I'm 16 and saving for one myself and wondering if a hobie 17 would be a good choice. I'd me single handing it half the time And take my dad or my girlfriend out the other half. I'm 140 pounds, my dad 160 and my girlfriend 115. Should I go for a hobie 17 or for a 16?

Thanks
Jethro

Jethro, I've sailed both and either will work for what you intend. The H16 is vastly more abundant, cheaper (usually - due to the abundance) and easy to get used parts for. That being said, in 2002, I went from 20 years sailing a 1979 H16 (mostly solo) to sailing a 2000 H17Sport and would never go back. If you do go for a H17, then look into the sport. The boomlet allows for easy crew transitions, whereas the H17SE model's boom makes the same transition very difficult and the jib helps in light to moderate winds.

Thanks fastcat. Also, in your opinion are the wings worth it? The guy I might be buying from said he'd take some off the price if I didn't take the wings. And being only 16, the lower the price the better.

Jethro take the wings, it's too much of a compromise to not have them. They are an important part of the H17 sailing experience. Read some earlier comments in this thread.

= 415 lb in total.

This is too much for H17 IMO. H17 is very weight sensitive. It would be wet and slow and you would feel like a submarine captain.

Skip H16 and get H18. It comes with wings too.

Actually, you need H17 for the 50% you single handle and H18 for the rest of the time.

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H17

Awesome thanks.
It the h17 easier to solo that the h16,also is the rigging simpler or about ther same?

Yes, H17SE was designed to go solo, but H16 is commonly single handled by more experienced sailors


About the same. H17 SE has no jib and only main sail, but it has wings which need to be installed if rigged from a trailer. H17 Sport and H16 have both jib and the main.

More info on H17 here:
http://www.hcana.hobieclass.com/default.asp?Page=9302&MenuID=CLASSES___|/c20071/9268/

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H17