git rot, main halyard, downhaul, mast rake and shrouds

Hi folks,

first of all I´d like to express my thankfulness for this forum, I´m new to it and to hobie-sailing (I live in Sardinia/Italy and have just bought a very old 14 Turbo) and I´ve been rummaging through all these pages for two days and have already found a lot of helping hints, thank you all so much.

But here are a few questions that still remain

1: Git Rot)
Both hulls are deleminated in front of the mast (rear part of bow just before tramp), each area approx. the size of what would be covered by two hands (20 x 6 inches? sorry, I normally measure in cm). When I press down the fiberglass, it goes down easily approx. 1cm (0.4 inches?), no crunchy sounds, no apparent leaks, but very soft.

I know I shouldn´t sail now and have read what is said in this forum about repair and found a shop where they sell Git Rot to Europe. My question:

a) Will this kind of repair work for an area this size and state of delimination?

b) How much Git Rot will I need, 1 pint? 1 quarter? (it is expensive and probably takes some time to be shipped, so I had better known). I have read the post of the guy who used about 32 oz for similar areas, but Matt seemed to disagree?

c) anything else I could do about those soft "spots" (and how?)



2: main halyard)
When I set my main sail, I cannot fix it the normal way because the halyard has been changed an has no ball and there is no stopper (don´t know the exact word) on the mast. I fix it the way all normal sails are fixed by using one of the cleats.

Might this in any way cause problems?


3: downhaul)
I read somewhere that one should downhaul the main sail a lot in LIGHT winds (???).
Now I´m not sure if I got it right what the downhaul is, I suppose it is the ring in the lower end of the main sail (which on a yacht is called 'cunningham') and if you pull it down it is good for flattening the sail in STRONG winds. Can anybody help?


4. mast rake and shrouds)
I found a lot of advice here for a hobie 14, but mine is a 14 Turbo -

a) how much mast rake would you advise - at the moment there is nearly zero (my weight: 95 kg/210 lbs, choppy water)
b) any changes for the rudder?
c) shrouds tight or loose - and how much

Thanks in advance

Det

I'll let others answer #1 and #2, since I don't have much experience with either (other than knowing you need to fix the soft spots before sailing).

Halyard - you need to get a halyard with a stop. If you tie it off to the cleat, you are likely to rip the cleat out of the mast.

Downhaul - attaches to the ring at the bottom of the gooseneck, goes down to the cleat attached to the mast track. You are correct - tighter makes the sail flatter and pulls the draft (belly) of the sail forward for stronger wind.

The soft spots definitely can be repaired, My boat had 2 area 25cm by 65 cm, that I fixed using regular marine fiberglass...

You don't need to use GitRot if it is expensive, any marine grade Epoxy would do fine (and can cost less). To play it safe, I would get enough Epoxy to fill 3 liters (this includes both the epoxy + Hardener).

For the halyard, definitely attach a new "slug" (the piece that catches the halyard to keep it up) onto the wire if you can, if not, you could maybe improvise by first tying it to the frame of the boat somewhere? But don't attach it directly to the Cleat as Mbounds said, it'll break.

Good Luck!

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1985 Hobie 16 86068

I´ll try with marine epoxy and glassfiber. The halyard thing is kind of bad news, as I hoped to be able to get to a buoy (paddling) and get the mainsail up there (first 50 metres are very rocky in my bay) - I´ll tie it to the frame, then.

Thanks a lot!!!

Det

tying your halyard to the frame will probably cause some issues with mast rotation.

_________________
Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

I doubt that it'll cause enough to be an issue, as long as it's not tangled up into much, the force of the sail pushing it to turn would easily for the halyard to adjust according ling... I think

_________________
1985 Hobie 16 86068

It probably does not matter, but how about class legal?

_________________
Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

I did just go through the H16 regulations today, and there is a bunch of things about the Jib Halyard, but nothing particularly about tieing down the main halyard... so maybe?

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1985 Hobie 16 86068