I would bet that the styrofoam dinghy bought at Sears was a Snark.

The first one was "windmills of your mind". Carol would dispute me on this, but I think it's easier to make Pierce Brosnan into a chump than Steve Mc...

Actually the remake, which we saw at the movies; that was one of my favorite scenes. In the original "Thomas Crown Affair" with Steve McQueen (which w...

I'm surprised you risked a jibe in that wind on the first time out! On the 18 in heavier air I usually pull the traveler in a little as I start over,...

"In over our heads" could have been literal (like Jeff on the 6.0). Glad to see it finally out there, even though our poor little 18 was no match for...

Too bad: we didn't make it down this weekend, due to a couple of other commitments (first time since June). If Bob moves the SuperCat, there should b...

Eric, We're all waiting to see this thing at Trixie's! Hope it hasn't turned into a disaster. Peter & Carol

"Peter are you finished for the season??? Shouldn't you be working???" (a) I hope not: we are planning to be down on Sunday; (b) 5th Amendment! ...

Here on Barnegat Bay there hasn't been a noticeable uptick in catamaran sailing numbers (Eric is one of the first new people to come along in a while...

We keep ours set up at Trixie's Landing, across the street from the launch site (the owner of the marina is Bob Bergstedt, who is a catamaran racer an...

Way out here in the East, Berkeley Island Park on Barnegat Bay (in Bayville, New Jersey), while no longer the catamaran lined beach it was 15-20 years...

The older 16s had reef points (mine did when I had one), but these days the attitude seems to be that if there's wind, damnit, we're going out!!! A...

In the 17 years (yikes!!!) that we've had our Hobie 18, I have replaced the side stays 3 or 4 times, the trapeze wires 2 or 3, and the fore stay once ...

20 is sort of the redline for us (Hobie 18 magnum). Usually (though not always) on Barnegat Bay in the summer the 20+ wind is south to SSW, which is ...

We turtled our first beachcat (a Hobie 16) early on, in a lake where, fortunately, there was 65 feet of water under us. We did what the books told us,...

On the "next cat" question: what about a Hobie 17? Great for going solo, but then, I guess, if you had someone else along, it wouldn't be as good. T...

Just curious: why would you go to a 16 after sailing an 18? Having owned both (currently an 18 Magnum), and realizing that the 16 is slightly lower m...

As to swept back rudders: remember how hard it is to keep from luffing up when the rudders kick up in a shoal! On points of sail, I've never measur...

For some reason, when they designed the 18, they did away withthe cleat (the 16 has one, despite having the lug and catch system for locking the halya...

I have one, a 1989 18, sail number USA 197 (obviously the original 18 number 197 would be much older). It's basically a standard Hobie 18 with a red,...

One more thing!!! While technically you can let the traveler all the way to the end of the crossbar when going downwind, be careful in really strong ...

By the way, Dan Bower is selling his Hobie 18 (the turquoise one) that's set up on the dock at Trixie's. It's on Craig's List: a little more technica...

we weren't down this week, since we were tied up with other stuff. Hope to be down Sunday the 14th. Peter (& Carol)

Eric, Is that you? It looks like your boat (from Trixie's), and the story sounds familiar (was it Dave on the NACRA 5.2 who picked up Shavonn [sp...

Remember to keep the jib backwinded until the main crosses the central fore and aft axis of the boat. You may want to have your crew uncleat it but h...

Eric and Shavawn: I see I mistakenly gave her name the Irish spelling (Siobhan). regarding the planned trip: It sounds like it could be fun, but ...