I'm curious if I need to purchase a Baby Bob for my Hobie 16. I am new at this so I'm thinking I may need one. But since I am new, I plan on sailing only in harbors and bays until I get more familiar and comfortable. Sailing in 8-10 MPH winds first. Do these Baby Bobs really help? Does anyone use one if experienced? I have not seen one on the water yet, only in videos. FYI- I have not flipped or pitch forked yet so when I do, I will be my first. This is why I'm asking. Thank you for your advice in advance!
Edited by trailertrashjohn on Nov 03, 2014 - 05:28 AM.
Baby Bob
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**unknown user**
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 07:27 AM
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 08:16 AM
Hey John, good to see you are still asking questions. Most of us do not use the Bob's mainly because of the weight it adds to the mast, also because more weight = less speed...
One of the first techniques a newbie needs to learn is how to right your boat solo and that is what you should do. Take your H16 out into a shallow area with light winds and practice by flipping the boat over and then "righting" your H16 by yourself, if possible have help standing by, either in a boat or on shore. The technique to righting your boat solo in winds 8-10 mph is as follows:-
1) Release both mainsheet and jibsheet
2) Point mast into wind
3) Climb on lower hull, grab righting line out of pocket on tramp, throw righting rope over upper hull.
4) Plant your feet firmly on lower hull as close to the hull bottom as you can get, hold line and lean out
It will take a little while for your weight to take effect but the mast will clear the surface, the wind will creep under the sail and help break it free from surface tension, as the mast and sail lift, momentum will increase as the wind will help by pushing the boat up. You should be standing on the lower hull in line with the front beam and as the upper hull hits the water you will find yourself under the boat, jump forward and grab the dolphin striker bar to prevent the boat from going over the opposite way.
Practice, practice, practice, some boats like the H16 have a righting line that is attached to the pylons, some have a righting line attached to the tramp, I personally did not like the the bungee-type righting line on my H16 as this stretched untill I was in the water and I got no leverage. My P16 has a line that is knotted at 12" intervals, it is attached to the tramp through a grommet just aft of the mast and stowed in a pocket on the tramp, so all I have to do once I'm standing on the lower hull is to reach around and "unpack" the line from the pocket, toss it over the upper hull, grab the line and lean out.
You could also use a "righting bag" that folds up and stores on the boat, you fill it with water and adds weight to help with righting the boat, there is also the "power righting pole" which attaches to the dolphin striker rod, folds under the tramp and you deploy the pole to help right the boat. But both of these cost big $$$'s
http://www.murrays.com/01-3282.html
http://www.murrays.com/13-4101.html
Whichever way you go, just remember this, practice untill you are comfortable doing this on your own.
HTH
R
PS, when you push a boat hard to the point that the leeward hull buries the bow and flips the boat over, that is known as a "pitchpole"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9LFsyoUDDQ
Edited by the-renovator on Nov 03, 2014 - 05:07 PM. -
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 09:50 AM
Thank you Renovator! I own a Snipe racing sailboat and that is what we did. I purposely tipped it over and brought it back up. FYI -The reason I purchased the Hobie 16 was while I was sailing the Snipe, a Hobie 14 was passing me over and over and looked like it was more fun and more comfortable. So, I purchased the 16.
Thank you for the great advice. I was thinking about a righting line too but I would not want the stretching either. You guys on this site save me money! Thanks for answering all my rookie questions as I know there are more to come! -
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 10:50 AM
I think the only time the Bob would make sense on a Hobie 16 is if it would just be certain disaster if the boat turtled, such as very shallow rocky bottom. That is the main job of the Bob, since ironically adding weight to the mast tip makes the boat more likely to capsize and harder to right after you capsize.
But it does make the the boat very unlikely to go inverted. If a Hobie 16 has a well sealed mast it shouldn't turtle anyway, and if it does, can be recovered upright with some technique.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 10:52 AM
I love this! I'm always trying to convert the dinghy sailors on the local lake with the same method.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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Posted: Nov 03, 2014 - 11:17 AM
Damon's reference to a well sealed mast shouldn't be overlooked.....that's very important to prevent minimize turtling and ease righting. The only times I've gone turtle on my 16 were when the wind was really howling and its pressure on the trampoline drove the mast down before we could counteract. That can happen when you're going downwind in big air and get "pitch forked".
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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
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Posted: Feb 18, 2015 - 10:50 AM
I have Baby Bob's on all of our Waves, but I would never put them on myH16 for the reasons all listed above. I have them on the Waves because normally the people who rent those boats are novice sailors and usually have very little if any righting experience. So they do capsize it allows us a little extra time to get out to them without the added hassle of the boat inverting. H16's are much lighter and pretty easy to right after a little bit of practice.
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Paul T.
6 Hobie Getaways, 3 Waves, & an H16
Sea Island Water Sports, GA
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