crab claw rig on H16 :: Catamaran Sailboats at TheBeachcats.com

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crab claw rig on H16

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MN3

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 02:25 PM

GerryMorelliOn Memorial Day he was divebombing my friend and me on the cat, seeing how close in front and behind he could buzz us. Flippin good times.

I hate being near those guys.. one wrong move and they will cut your sail off... get to close and they can probably even cut a shroud off!

We had a young man on a kite end up in power lines... fall 30' onto a gaurd rail and of course i ended up with his chute wrapped up in my forestay. i had to pop the chute (they are inflated) and cut free from about 30 spectra lines. the chute was destroyed and the kid nearly died...

GOOD FUN!
DamonLinkous

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 03:10 PM

andrewscottIt was a good boat.. sure it was heavy, no fun in waves, old, needed new gelcoat and was not powerful enough (or at least made me work much harder than my current boat does) and slow by todays standards..

Hobie 18 no fun in waves?

Have you never seen the "Sharing the Wind" video?

What's your idea of fun? I've been in all kinds of waves, launching through surf, riding/surfing, all pretty fun stuff!

I recently had a race at Ocean Springs (Around Deer Island) on my H18 where the back side of Deer Island turned into a broad reach "with the waves" run and had all the fun I could handle. And that was with about 450 pounds of men on board, try that with the delicate new models!

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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smfinley

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 03:35 PM

I would be curious what boat is fun in waves and what the difference is. I have had H16, H18M and SC20 in waves ranging from a couple feet to 10+ feet. I am not a big fan of sailing in big waves on any of them, but think the H18 has handled them the best. Also the dryest of the 3.

I try to stay in the 5' and under range when I can and 3-5 is very common here on Lake Michigan. The big Pacific rollers are a completely different experience from the Lake Michigan waves.

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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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MN3

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 04:26 PM

i have been waiting for you to chime in Damon...
Yes "FUN in waves" is subjective...

BUT IMHO... long flat hulls with less volume (like h18) get bounced around alot, as do the H17 and the P18 with its long asymmetrical hulls. If you enjoy going up and down and up and down and getting slowed down each wave.. then there you go...

Here in the gulf, west coast of Florida our waves come at a very fast frequency.. much faster than most ocean waves...so you hit the second wave before you finish riding the first wave... after a few hours of this.. I am beat down... occasionally we get it bad.. they build up for days in the gulf and can come out, even in a sunny, light day...and pummel us...

we also get some amazing wave action at low tide in our 2 local passes.. hurricane pass and sand key pass (2 local entrances into the gulf from the protected intra-coastal / bay area) flat everywhere but crazy in the pass... it can get real hairy, esp if there is powerboat traffic, kayakers and of course all the guys fishing from the beach who can't understand when we yell "tend your line".. they yell back "tend your boat".

One hatefully time, i capsized in these crazy waves in the pass... i was on the wire, had a wave from one direction, tide rushed the other way, turned me around from windward to Leeward and over she went (over my head)... i nearly didn't right the boat in time as i was pushed into breakers... as i got it up, the jib filled with air and it took off.. i had to "Indian Jones" my way up the righting line (while it was doing about 15) and as i got onboard ( i was so exhausted from righting and hand over handing my way to the boat.. I almost could not get onboard).. i hear others yelling... watch out for that channel marker... as i went to steer, my sheet was wrapped around the rudders/traveler. i had no steering.. luckily i missed it and recoved the lines.

As i was being beat to death by the waves on the ride home, my spin hoop would go under water... flex up and shoot water 10' in the air, only to rain down on me.. all the time my engorged spin bag is shooting micro streams in 1000 directions our of 1000 tiny holes..... this went on for about an hour before i got into the calm of the sound...

and my all time favorite feature from waves.... my pfd rubbing up and down on my nipples until they bleed... any idea how long that takes to heal.... MONTHS!!! or how bad that hurts?

edited by: andrewscott, Jul 30, 2009 - 04:29 PM
DamonLinkous

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 04:51 PM

andrewscottand my all time favorite feature from waves.... my pfd rubbing up and down on my nipples until they bleed... any idea how long that takes to heal.... MONTHS!!! or how bad that hurts?

LOL! That's hilarious even if TMI...

try taking the piercings out first next time!

Ok, now the Crab Claw thread is completely off the tracks. Sorry Gerry.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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MN3

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 05:20 PM

lol... yes i know its TMI!!!

But it a part of why i hate waves... so i had to include it.

PS - I have no piercings

What Claw thread? oh yea.... LOL
GerryMorelli

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Posted: Jul 30, 2009 - 05:32 PM

Well, hey, I'm enjoying the thread. I was out on the Columbia River a couple weeks ago, and judging by the whitecaps and the big courthouse flag it was 20-25. That would have been OK for me, but the tide conspired with 2-3 ft rolling and breaking swells broadside. As I've said, I don't like to dump it, so I didn't have much fun. We parked on the island and took my friends power boat, picked up a pizza and waited for easier times.
MN3

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Posted: Jul 31, 2009 - 09:16 AM

20-25 is a lot in any sailboat.. i think it is wise to be "safe" and wait for better air/waves.

I would caution you to not have your kids out in extreme weather as your rig is so unusually.. no telling how it will handle big air... who knows it may take off like a helicopter
GerryMorelli

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Posted: Jul 31, 2009 - 10:23 AM

Not to worry, I filed a flight plan with the FAA just in case.

I had the sail highly reefed, so the wind wasn't overwhelming, but I was nervous because the waves were broadside. On my to-do list is to improve windward performance when highly reefed.
MN3

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Posted: Jul 31, 2009 - 10:30 AM

hahah... cool.

PS i had a helocopter crash into the gulf on me last friday (and when i say on me, i mean 300 yards from me).... all people lived, but it didnt look to fun!
rgranger

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Posted: Aug 06, 2009 - 05:42 PM

Dear Gerry

I just joined beachcats today because I wanted some advice on rigging.. and I found your crabclaw. Go figure... Here is what I'm thinking and I'd like to hear your thoughts. I want to design a junk rig for a cat. I've purchase the "How to design a Junk Rig" book but I have never seen one on a cat. I've seen gaffs on and crab claws on out riggers but no Junks. So I'm worried that there might be a very good reason you don't see them.

Any input/insight is welcome.

r

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rgranger
Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Hobie16, Balboa26, Rhodes 22, O'Brian Windsurfer
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GerryMorelli

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Posted: Aug 07, 2009 - 01:10 PM

Hi R,

I quickly looked in Marchaj's "Sail Performance" book, and about the only thing he had on junk rigs was a short description of Hasler's 1960's Folkboat Jester. I don't have any experience with that sail, but every rig has its strengths and weaknesses, and the key is to match them to your sailing. I can't imagine a junk is faster than a typical Bermuda rig, but it may have other attractions, especially if you like the appearance.

I didn't start out wanting an unusual rig, I just wanted a simple solution to fast single handed rigging my kids enjoyed. It so happens I ended up with a sail whose ease and performance and looks I really, really like! As I said, variety is the spice! One of my wishes is for more people, especially younger people, to discover the flavor of sailing that floats their boat, regardless of what everybody else is doing. The end result will be better for all sailors-cruisers, high octane and everything between. Keep me posted on your progress.

Gerry
rgranger

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Posted: Aug 07, 2009 - 05:45 PM

Hi Gerry

So after I typed you yesterday I found this link to a page

where another guy had done almost the same thing you did

http://www.rclandsailing.com/catamaran/construction.html#hull

It is a nice page with a lot of details about his trials and tribulations etc. I learned a lot from it and I'm guessing you will find a kindred spirit here...

I also found this page where a guy put a sprit rig on a 16' cat

http://slidercat.com/blog/wordpress/?page_id=2

it is also a very well done page with a lot of good insights.

As soon as I sell my Coronado 25' I'm going to start the construction of my cat in earnest.

Best
r

(Rob)

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rgranger
Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Hobie16, Balboa26, Rhodes 22, O'Brian Windsurfer
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hawkeye

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Posted: Aug 19, 2009 - 03:39 AM

Hey Gerry since I first saw your videos a couple of days ago I've been trying to locate you so I could correspond with you about your rig. (BEACHCATS, of course! I should have known.) Because I too have been experimenting with crabclaw rigs on various boats the last few years for all the reasons you describe so well. My rig (and boats) are quite different from yours however, but I am very happy with the crabclaw and continually tweak it for handier sailing. I no longer have any Hobie Cats (I have owned four) or Prindle Cats (I have owned two) but I still have a Sea Spray 16 cat and three monohulls. My current "test sled" is a 1966 aluminum Grumman Flyer 16 foot monohull that I rescued from a barn back in April. It came with a nice roller trailer, mast, boom, etc. but only one sail-the spinnaker! So, I tossed my crabclaw rig in it that I put together two years ago and took it sailing the day after I brought it home. My rig is very portable since I use a single short mast and the 14-foot spars from a sunfish. But the performance from so small a sail is amazing and the rigging so simple that I usually step the mast and hoist the sail once I'm on the water in well under five minutes. Send me your email address and I'll send you some pics. I look forward to discussing our "thousand year old rigs."