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Do-It-Yourself | Upgrades

Do-It-Yourself: Build Your Own Trap Seat Wings for your Hobie 16 Catamaran

Added by damonAdmin on Nov 11, 2003 - 08:20 PM

I really liked sailing my Hobie 16 with my wife and dog when we first got the boat last summer, and wanted to enjoy exploring the lakes around the parkland area. But after about an hour of cruising, sitting up at the helm got a little hard on the back, and I got jealous of the wife being able to lie out on the trampoline in the sun. So I started looking for some way to put a lawn chair on the cat.

The wings that existed for the Hobie 18 seemed a solution, but I wanted a more comfortable answer for day-long cruising. I found some references to trap seats but they seemed too expensive for a lawn chair. So using the few grainy pics that I could find on the internet as reference, I got to work making my own.

No cutting, just clamps!First problem was how and where to attach the seats on the cat. I didn't want to drill any holes, so clamping of some type had to be incorporated. I figured that the side rails and the hull posts were the most convenient and structurally reliable location for the clamps. I used 3 inch steel pipe with 1/8" wall thickness as the base of the design. The rail clamps are 3" wide, while the post clamps are limited to 2" width because that's all there is for clearance between the hull and trampoline mounting. The flanges for bolting the clamps together are made from 1" x 3" steel strips (1/16" thick) for the rails, but on the post to extend the circumference of the pipe pieces to reach around I used pieces cut from 1" square tubing. For the receivers of the seat frame 1 1/2" outside diameter steel tubing cut 3" long worked fine.

Wear goggles for cutting metal - sparks fly everywhere. Don't wear fleece - you'll burn right thru it.

I cut my metal pieces on my table saw using an abrasive metal cutting blade. Chop saws work best for making square cuts. Cut the large steel tubing in half lengthwise. Use a hammer and pound down the curves to flatten them - the rails and posts are teardrop cross section and while you can try to match the geometry, I didn't want to put the effort into forming the metal on a project that might not have worked out. But feel free to form the metal as much as you like, test for fit as you go.

Welded clamp.Weld on the flanges and receiver tubing to the appropriate clamps. To drill holes through flanges to bolt the clamps together keep both pieces together with a wood clamp and use a drill press or hand drill with 9/16" high speed steel drill bit. Drill one hole first, and put the bolt through and tighten to keep the holes all registered as you drill all 4. Use the first rail clamp and post clamp that you make as a template for the rest.

Fitting the wings.After mounting all clamps, you can start bending the conduit for the seat frames. I used 1" electrical conduit and a hand pipe bender. Some complex bending needs to be done to get the desired angle and clearance - my seat needs to be raised up probably about a foot more, since I used a prone hiking out position as my guess as to how high the seat should be. This drags the seat in the water when flying a hull beyond a foot. Start with the upper bar first - you will need five 10' conduit lengths. I can't really give much advice here, as I made the bends one at a time and then put the conduit in the upper receiver to check my shape, but use the pictures as a guide.

That looks comfortable!Depending on the final shape of the seat frame you can measure out the fabric you will need to drape across the seat, sewing sleeves around each end for the frame to slide through. I used a mesh material, I believe it was fiberglass coated in a plastic, similar to what is used on some lawn furniture. You can get something like this at an upholstery shop, and even get them to sew it for you for a small price.

The total project cost about $80-90 Canadian, as I had some of the metal and tools to build the clamps. Time took 6 hours for the clamps (cutting, welding, and don't forget to round up the edges so nobody gets cut on jagged metal), about 5 hours for the seat frames (mostly sitting and looking at it) and the total weight added is about only 15 lbs. To trailer I just leave the clamps on the boat and take out 4 retaining bolts and slide the seats out - takes 2 minutes. Just what I was looking for.

Jason Gulenchin
gulenchi(AT)mb(DOT)sympatico(DOT)ca

Footnote: Great project for those that have the skills and tools to attempt it!
 
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