a question....

i to all...
yesterday i was sailing in 12\15 knt and in a moment the right sidebar brokes in two pieces and i dismasted my cat....
so sad...
how is the expected life for this pieces....
i have seen that there was a major "rust" into the pieces that i have broke....
the boat is an 88 and i qon't know if the last owner change the sidebars...
max

Well im guessing water was sitting in them for an unhealthy period of time, rusted through, and ate out your side bars. but i gotta say, you always have the craziest hobie destruction stories. are you sailing in like 45 knot winds while white-water rafting or something? because, i really feel bad for you and all your hobies.

Did it happen to break at the shroud wire attachment position (whats that called?)? Because in that case you might have been sailing with all the force on that wire, and there wasa previous dent, and interior rust, and kapow no more siderail. (just a stab at the physics, i have no real clue.)

Good luck with the sidebars though. They shouldnt be that hard to find. And you can always use a boom; same stock material.

_________________
Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the side rail aluminium? It doesn't rust.

Something like this would probbaly help you in the future:

_________________
Dave

Truth is treason in the empire of lies.

Campaign for Liberty

really nice idea...
i know that alluminium doesn't rust but in the internal part there was a lot of corrosion right where the rail has broken...
anyway i'm interesting in the jib rig in that pix can u send me some other shot please?
thanx
max

Hi, I'd like to do something like in that picture of ozglxvr6's post. Is that part poking up thru the lip of the hull same as the piece for the 16ft? The "hook" attached to the chain plate looks like a bow tang -- is that right? Look's like good insurance for older siderails. Would love to know exactly what you did there.

Cheers
Simon

Wow--pretty cool when other posters use my boat as an example!!

I reinforced my sidebars because I run with a headsail and the bars would bend up at a VERY nerve-wracking curve. I drilled a hole in the lip of the boat and installed the same parts off of a Hobie 16. I used the bow tang off of a Hobie 16 at the top to hook the wire into. I am fortunate enough to have a hand swager, so I could swage the wire directly on the boat and not have to measure. Before I did that, I just used some line and tied it down.

Really, the sidebars should be able to take the pressure of a stock 14 or Turbo. It depends on the corrosion around the chainplate. You really need to check it out before you go sailing to see if it has weakened.

It sounds like you are sailing in salt water, so it would be a good idea to remove the chainplate and re-rivet it. Before reriveting, I would put some tape under the chainplate to keep it away from the sidebar. This would prevent the reaction between the stainless and aluminum.

Hope this helps.

One more thing--

You can see more pictures of the headsail set-up at:

http://www.thebeachcats.com/modules.php ... _album.php

If anyone wants a headsail, I have one for sale and I would be more than happy to field questions about rigging a 14 with the Hooter or Turbo jib.

You can email me at [email protected] or call 757-589-6920

Dan,

Thanks for the replies -- to both my posts on the chainplate/siderail topic. That's really helpful. Probably can't take you up on offer re the fresh sidebars -- I live in australia - freight might be prohibitive!

I think that reinforcing you've done is a good idea -- I might consider it for my boat after I've determined the extent of corrosion and taped it up -- obviously for you the strength of the fibreglass on the lip is not a problem? -- It seems that its pretty thick and solid there and there's a stainless or alloy bar running underneath, right.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing the info, I appreciate it.

Simon

PS you're headsail set up looks interesting[/i]

Hi ,just wondering if you are located in Italy ,or you just use this nick...
I wanted to know cause I live in Italy (I am from Greece) and wanted to meet someone with a h14 as I have ,and looking for some spare parts .
Are you in Europe??Do you have any spare parts?!Its difficult for me to find used ones in Greece thats why I ask .
Anyway....nice to meet you!!

_________________
hobiecat 14Turbo - TORNADO

I used the hobie 16 Anchor pin and anchor bar, PNs 20100000 and 50101701.

I measured straight down from the anchor plate and drilled a small hole in the lip just to make sure I was on target. Then, I drilled a larger hole so the pin would fit. I then drilled out the top of the hole a bit to counter sink the lip on the pin. It turned out to be a pretty clean install. The anchor bar is a pretty thick piece of stainless that is about 6 inches long. It spreads the load very well.

Hey, thanks for all that advice -- going to get onto it in the next week or so. Probably come up with some other questions sometime in the future: the boat's well preserved considering its age, but....needs attention here and there.

Anyway, best wishes from down under.