I just found out that my Hobie 3.5 is meant for sub 170 lb riders and I am about 250. It drafted deep(about to the top deck) but it didn't take on any water and sailed ok.
Am I risking messing something up on it to sail it? I got it for cheap and didn't know anything about it nor did the person selling it. only thing i had to replace was the rope, make up some rudder hardware and patch a sail tear.
you can get a few pics of my maiden voyage at www.runningbeforethewind.com
oh and i found your site by the recomendation while probing for information over at sailnet.com
edited by: gemiller, Jul 18, 2009 - 06:33 AM
not really dangerous, just real slow and not much fun, might tip it over a lot but you should be able to pull it up easily
get used to sailing it, and if you like it get something bigger
try to sail a hobie 16 with someone
1982 nacra 5.2
2009 weta
not really dangerous, just real slow and not much fun
like erice says, you will learn to sail on this and will very quickly want to move up to something a little more exciting.
Turbo
On-The-Edge-Of-No-Control
gemiller,
Welcome to the site and I'm glad you are getting into sailing, and thanks for the link on your blog.
But I got to say... the first thing that came to mind when I looked at your maiden voyage pictures was a quote from Jaws.
"We're gonna need a bigger boat." π
The Hobie 3.5 was the very smallest catamaran Hobie ever built and you (and I) are not the smallest sailors.
The good news is you have a complete and desirable boat that someone would buy for their child so you can move up to at least a Hobie 16 and better a Hobie 18 or Nacra equivalent.
Clean the sails with some OxiClean or a mild mixture of Barkeepers friend.
The important thing, Keep Sailing!
____________
Damon Linkous
Thanks for the comments everyone, lol I agree on the jaws quote damon!
It's a fun toy considering I with all the rope and repairs I did still got the whole thing for $150ish.
What I will probably do is just keep sailing on it this year and do a full resto on it this winter and keep it around and look for another bigger craft. Rumor has it there is someone around here that has a hobie 14 thats sorta new in good condit that desperately needs to get rid of it... maybe I'll just start my own personal regatta π
as long as i'm not going to risk any damage i'll entertain myself with it π like after getting the message on my phone that it won't break anything we, with much entertainment, stacked three people on it and sailed it half submerged for a few minutes to see what would happen. suprisingly with the right gust of wind we got it to come back up π lol, wish I would have got pics it was funny watching three full size adults try to balace this thing while the legs were submerged a few inches! but it still took on no water!
Thanks so much for the replies and I'll definately be around a good bit here checking out all the awesome information and people π
good idea to sail the hell out of it this summer
as for next year, at 250lbs don't even bother with the hobie14 unless it's a turbo with jib and dolphin striker
you are way heavier than my 165lbs and i hold down a 17foot nacra with 19m2 of sail area
as mentioned earlier you have the mass to make a hobie 16 or even 18 behave once you've gotten hold of the basics
and they are both a lot more fun to take 3 people out on
but hammer that 3.5 while you have it
kind of the 50cc scooter before you go the whole hog
1982 nacra 5.2
2009 weta