What is standard on a new boat? ... shopping list ... :-)

Did you buy the trailer from Hobie? It seems like their price was much higher than if you bought it directly from Trailex.

The thing is nice and very light. I'm loving mine.

Yes, I bought the Trailer, double roller kit and rear mast stand from my friendly Hobie Dealer (2200 km away in Progreso, Yucatan). Part of the program to support sailing in Mexico is to buy everything from a Mexican dealer if possible. They have the expertise to do importation correctly and trust me it is a hassle.

I really like the trailer. There are a couple of things that could have been better thought out but over all I really like it.

My point is that as you noted, buy through Hobie makes the trailer much more expensive. For much more expensive I expect much more:
I expect Product Specific information. My Hobie Dealer knows what boat I am buying the trailer for. The instructions should have Hobie 16 information. A few photos of the boat on the trailer to see where tie downs should be and fore and aft placement would be nice.
"Set roller centers at X'Y" from center"
"Hobie 16 transom should be approx Z" from rear roller for proper tongue weight"
I've decided that the front pylons over the forward roller is about right. The hull/pylon is a strong point and should be good for load bearing. It also places the transoms with a small overhang and gives approx 50# tongue wt.

"Caution! Boat can roll off trailer in either direction, use ??? to stop boat from rolling forward off rollers."
Really? No design for a forward stop? The little "V" on the front mast support will never touch the bridle wires. So what was the plan to keep the boat from rolling forward off the supports?

"Set forward mast stand X" to rear of trailer hitch"
"Note: Rear Mast stand "V" should be adjusted to contact rear cross bar. Tiller connector and rudders should be removed for trailering."
Not sure if this stuff was ever planned out. I set it up so that the mast step is not hitting the tow car and the rear support is not on the comp tip. The rear cross bar/comp tip seems to set where the mast should be. It does interfere with the tiller cross bar for sure.

For the extra $1000 or so when you buy from your Hobie Dealer I don't think 1st class instructions are too much to ask. If I had tried to save money by going to Trailex directly, I would have to put up with poor or non-existent instructions.

How about a "Have a Hobie Day" red flag for the mast as part of the trailer package?

It is the little things like Harken(tm) hardware that adds value to Hobie(tm) ... Trailex is not up to the Hobie(tm) standard and is not worth the price premium to purchase from Hobie. It could be for a few hours with a camera, a measuring tape, and a few boats.

Cheers,

Randy Hough

_________________
Sail More. Tinker Less. Enjoy a Hobie Day.
-2013 H16 #1`13780
-2014 Getaway w/wings,spinnaker,& trapeze

Davis Telocat..Mui expensive!!!

Try using wide monofilamet tape ie. old vcr or other. spray tape and bridle with mcLube or something similar if they get sticky

Haven't used a bridle fly in 15+ yrs

And please bring Mike some spare parts..we need to get him on the water for 2014!!!

Hey Tom don,t worry about me being on the water.I probably get more Water and Ice time then anyone I know (retirement is great).
You better get your Butt out on that boat for some practice for the Worlds.Tell you what come on up to Thunder Bay and on Superior you can Water Sail,Ice Sail and Skate all within a mile of each other.Bring Sue and a couple friends and you will double our population.

I ended up buying my trailer direct from Trailex. They wanted about $1000 to ship it 750 miles. So I took 2 days and picked it up myself. They already had it put together for me also.

A few things I did to my trailer that made things nice were taking the bow stop off the front mast holder and also buying another one from trailex. I bolted the bow stops to the trailer cross bars and they now hold the cat trax. They fit in there perfectly.

Also to help with holding the boat in place I got some of the H16 cradles that KennyB makes and also got 4 more of the L brackets trailex uses to mount the single rollers and used them to mount the cradles so the flat spot on the bottom of the cradle is taking the weight of the boat and not the pin going through the cradle. Now the boat can't move side to side and has enough friction in the cradles to hold it in place.