Mast floatation

Has anyone ever heard of putting floatation on a mast other than the standard Hobie "bob"? there is a H16 on the beach next to my 14 and it appears to have some kind of floatation attached to the front side of the mast from the tip to where the wires attach. I'd like to do something to keep me from turtling, because I sail in some heavy seas, but the "bob's" are kinda pricey.

Any ideas would be great

My dad used to have (on what is now my boat) this thing that was like a little plastic bottle, but if it got dunked a CO2 cartridge would inflate a baloon to keep the mast from going under. I suppose good on a lake, but I wonder how you could put a time-delay on it so it would inflate after say, 5-6 minutes or something?

Also, I have never seen one of these for sale before. Must have been a '70s thing.

If I remember correctly, I've seen some kind of charcoal gray, adhesive backed, closed cell, foam pad that attaches to the front of the mast, above the forestay tang that supposedly acts as mast flotation. I'm sure at the time (2001), I'd only browsed through Hobie's catalog. I don't see how it could displace enough water to do anything other than barely make the mast neutrally buoyant, but I guess it's better than nothing, and it's certainly not as obvious as a "bob".

The disadvantages of the float pads were several. OK, it didn't show up like the Bob does, but it doesn't work nearly as well either.

With the pads, they would not be fully effective until the mast is already well under water and on the way to full turtle. There also was a problem with the airflow over the sail. In addition, there was quite allot of windage / drag caused over 1/4 the length of the mast / sail.

The Bobs cause very little windage / drag, no air disturbance over the sail and they offer the flotation lever arm at the most effective point on the mast... at the tip.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Ok, the float pad must be what I saw. After talking with the guy that owns the boat, he said it pretty much sucks. He said all it does is make it a little bit easier to get the boat from turtled to it's side.

Now my next question: Anyone want to sell me a "bob" cheap?

Thanks for the replies

If you want a cheap alternative I have seen a tether ball used. I am not sure how it was attached but it pretty much does the same as a bob and does not upset the wind over the sail.

I have seen the tetherball, also bleach and milk jugs and I even saw one of those mini 'hippity hops' from when I was a kid tied to a mast.

At least it doesn't look like the Hindenberg following you all around the lake overhead. Sorry, I think the Big Bob's look funny. How about a big rubber ducky? or a little model of a pirate in a crow's nest carved from Styrofoam?

Back to reality: I have seen some sails, somewhere, on some boat, that have a thin panel of lightweight, flexible closed cell foam sewn into a pocket on the very top panel of the sail for floatation. It actually IS the same size and shape of the top panel - so you have low-windage, integrated floatation rather than an add-on. The foam is like the stuff that comes in sheets that pool installers use to line the bottom of pools- (brand name "Happy Bottom Pool liners) it is 1/4 or 3/16 thick. There is always a bunch left after installations that your local pool-guy probably throws away. You could probably get a sail maker or canvas shop put together something for you.

Thinking outside the box, and off the top of the mast!

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The fact that this windy world is largely covered in water obviously means that man was meant to sail.

Thanks for all the creative ideas. Although I kind of don't like the look o f a bob at the top of the mast, I think it would look better than a tether ball, or milk jug. If I can find a used one on ebay or something, I will probably go with that. Otherwise, I guess I will just hope for the best and try not to turtle it.

Thanks again guys

Marcus
H14
Narragansett Bay

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Marcus
H16
Narragansett Bay, RI

NOTHING say 'class' like a milk jug tied to the top of your mast.

_________________
The fact that this windy world is largely covered in water obviously means that man was meant to sail.