5 batten sail

I recently bought a '76 H 14 , and reading this forum the 5 batten sail is old. When did they stop making them? The sail I have seems to be in good shape, ok not race ready, but definately serviceable. It says Hobie sail on it , and according to the sail colour chart it's approx. '77. There is 1 sail patch but otherwise it's fine. Does a 6 batten really make that much difference?? I'm wondering if it's worth the expense of a new one, as it's only for recreation not racing.

The short answer to your question is "no" - it doesn't make that much of a difference.

The change to 6 batten sails came about in 1983 / 84. Hobie Cat wanted it because it makes the sails easier to make - the battens are aligned with the major seams in the sail, like the 16. Although it was promoted as a "performance neutral", over the years it's been shown to be slightly better than the 5 batten sail. However, that may be because all the 5 batten sails are over 25 years old now.

Thanks Mbounds for the info. I guess we will keep the 5 batten and add a jib for improved pointability and performance. By the end of the season we finally figured out that the mast rake angle is huge to pointability. All the experience rigging mono hulls kinda went out the window at that point, and we continue to learn about our new and exciting boat!!!!

what is the sail chart and where can i find it
??thx ,Harrison

Actually, the boat will point higher without the jib and the jib doesn't add that much to the performance, except on a reach.

The jib does, however, make the boat a lot easier to tack.

A stock 14 tacks like a brick, especially in any sort of breeze / chop. It's an artform.

ok well i found the sail date on my boat but my boat is a 79 and my sail is a 74 so what does that mean?

Sombody sold an older sail with a newer boat or,

it's not an original (McKibbin) sail or,

somebody had a custom sail made.

ok yah thx but it is a real hobie sail so i guess the guy i bought it off of had to buy and older sail

Well Mbounds I would certainly agree that it does tack "like a brick". The small lake we sail on is long and narrow so tacking is a priority. You say a jib doesn't make that much difference in pointing ability?? My experience till this summer has been with monohulls, and they are hugely affected by no jib. I was under the impression that regardless of the boat under it, the sail configuration does make a difference. Is this yet another misconception I have between multi's and monohulls???( I have so much to learn)

Speed...yes, pointing ability...no. I know there are much more knowledgable sailors than I that can explain the physics, but my experience with fore sails is that due to their inherently fuller shape, they require a broader point of sail to optimize their efficiency. Also, you will note that the jib sail area on a monohull is normally much more of the overall sail area than on your typical multihull.