First Sail

I took my new Wave with my family down to Claremont launch ramp in Long beach this afternoon for the inaugural sail, and it was great! 15 knots of wind, sunny skies, about 35 kiters out, two Trifoils, a Hoby 16, and a Prindle. What a day! We caught some great runs,even with 2 or three people on board, and managed to even impress the jaded 16 yr old son with how much fun it was, so all in all I think the purchase was the right thing to do. After the day, a number of other sailers came up, asking lots of questions and looking over the boat with a lot of admiration. Nice boat!
One question: the only thing that marred an other wise perfect day was getting the pin back out of the mast base. I had left it in (I seem to remember the Hobie literature recommending that) and when we finished the day, the pin was severely bent, and required serious pounding by the friendly Prindle skipper with a screw driver and a piece of 4x4 to get it out. Was this a mistake on my part and is the pin only intended to aid in stepping the mast? He has a similar setup on the Prindle, but relies on the shrouds and forestay to hold the mast on the ball after they are hooked up. What's the best way to do this?

I have no experience with the wave, but if it is anything like the 14/16 it sounds as though you are describing the pin for the mast step kit. This should not be connect to the mast once it is raised and secured (forestay + shrouds). The masts on the 14/16 are designed to rotate freely, and I am thinking that the same applies to the wave. You can pick up replacement pins at your local dealer, as it sounds as though your current one is a bit bent.

Sounds like you had a great first sail!

_________________
Jeffrey

1983 - H14
1985 - H16

Sounds to me that you lowered the mast when your alignment was not correct.The mast must be lowered in accordance with the arrow on the base of the mast and crossbars.
The sail track should be directly facing towards the stern and NOT to the sides.If I were you I would check out the ball to make sure that there are no fractures as well as the base of the mast that could be damaged due to lowering out of alignment.The pin is used for mast step up and step down and there are no stressful forces on it any other time.The forestay and shrouds act as the keepers and the ball and socket are the pivital rotator surface.