Hobie Point at Lake Lewisville. Directions are available here: br /> If I am at the beach the same time that you are, you are welcome to come ou...

Hi Ryan, Since I have to switch the side on the tiller extension I am right in line with the car/upper main sheet block. It got me a couple of time...

Some boomless sails are not any safer than having a boom. My Nacra has a track and car hanging from the sail that can hurt just as much as a boom.

Harry, I solo a Nacra 5.5 most of my time on the water and occasionally have between 1 and 3 crew. No problem with the Nacra and I believe the Prin...

The shroud tension will depend on the conditions. More wind requires more mast rake and more shroud tension.

A jib

Ideal crew weight for a Hobie 14 is about 155 lbs. At 190 lbs + the weight of any additional crew, you will be far above what the boat was designed fo...

The Nacra 5.5 Uni is an 18SQ with an 8'6" beam and less sail. It is supposed to be a scaled down version of the 18SQ, but it can still be a lot of boa...

600+ square feet of sail (including a huge asymmetrical chute), twin trapeze, 14 foot beam and a rigged boat weight of under 300 lbs. Sounds like a...

Boards are usually down going upwind and up going downwind. They are also raised when approaching the beach(for obvious reasons). You also lift the...

That is definitely true DOug. I have the rudders raked under the boat so that the center of force is just slightly aft of the rudder pivot point.

Thanks Deepsees, I tend to spend so much time in the water because of the high winds here in Dallas and the fact that I single hand a lot. It isn't...

Yeah Andrew, I can hold it in 15-20, but once I hit 20+ the bows get heavy.

Mine tend to go under on a broad/beam reach with high winds (20+) and decent sized waves. I've been over way more than 18 times, in fact I have probab...

I agree with predictable. The bow submerged on me a few times and I have cartwheeled the boat twice now. I even had crew with me one day and sent ...

Ryan: I have to depower at about the same wind speeds and am still able to haul the sheet in and get a good sail shape. I use the downhaul, mast rake ...

The main on a Nacra 5.7 is 176 square feet. This is only 4 square feet more than the Nacra 5.5 that I solo all the time. You can probably depower the ...

Tacking a uni rig takes some getting used to. I took the hobie course that is offered once a year here in Dallas and it was extremely helpful. Going f...

Larry: I bought my 5.5 from the Cat House. Mark is great to deal with. It is a little further away than it used to be since I am in Texas now.

Thanks. I may try one hole further aft to get the bows a little higher. I cartwheeled her last time out and although it happened in slow motion, there...

Andrew: I crewed on a classic Tornado back around 91-92. It was a lot of boat back then and the new setup is just more of everything. The setup is act...

Ryan, It is good that you know your limitations. The Tornado is a big boat to handle. The P19 is also pretty fast and will be a significant perf...

The Tornado is also a centerboard boat that requires very little water for the boards. I wouldn't suggest soloing a Tornado with the jib up and righti...

Swimming around seems a little risky. The boat may decide to turtle while you are getting her head to wind. Before I went swimming, I would try a sea ...

I learned to gybe tightening the traveller on skiffs where being in the center of the boat after a gybe guarantees a swim. The cat is much more stable...

It looks like you need to gain 100 lbs. Hopefully someone has more insight than I do.

That is strange Kenny. I would expect the bow to sink at least enough to get you head to wind. It is also a little strange that you went from nothi...

This is one that I have to disagree with Andrew on. During a gybe, I center the traveller and pull the main sheet tight. This stops the sail from ...

At 215 lbs, you have 35 lbs on me and this is the same technique that I use on the Nacra. How far out on the bow are you getting?