I'm all for making things easier and doing them solo. You did not say if this was for the Tornado or the Nacra. For the 5.0 you can easily do it sol...

Don't put too much stock in N.A.D.A. An older boat might have a newer tramp and sails, the cost of which might easily exceed the book value of the bo...

The only thing that makes a Hobie 16 a good entry level boat is there's a lot of them out there and one of them can be had for quite cheap. That's a ...

If most of your sailing is recreational and not racing you might want to consider dacron. Having a lot of experience with both, dacron has advantages...

I've owned 6 G-Cats, 3 5.0s and 3 5.7s. over the last 40 years. 4 were more recent and I completely restored them and sold 3 of them. No profit but ...

I saw this one on Craigs list and called the guy. He said he measured it at 18 1/2 ft, that makes it a 5.7. Could be worthy of a restoration but als...

When I lived in LA I went there too many times to count. I would usually sail there first because it was the closest place from my starting point in ...

You have to consider this. The tack on the 500 jib was high and the clew low in order to create the correct sheeting angle because the jib blocks wer...

Do the WETA now before you are totally done with sailing! Thanks everybody for your comments. I've already studied the mechanics of the wings and to ...

I stand corrected on the end cap discussion on you're end cap issues. I have no experience with the older Nacras with the round cross tubes. The Nac...

Have you considered just leaving the end caps off? They are purely cosmetic anyway. Some of the boats I have rebuilt have had considerable corrosion...

PS i have had my clocked cleaned repeatedly by a 70 year old fart on a 30 year old stock 5.0 g-cat It sounds like he's talking about me. My G-Cat is ...

Murreys catalog has a gin pole that that tucks under the tramp. Never actually seen one, but looks like it would work. Curious if anyone out there h...

Go on line and check out Sunrise Yacht Products out of St. Pete for tramps. Great quality and great prices.

All good advice. I'd like to add one thing that was left out. Over the last several years, I've disassembled 4 different beach cats and the only one...

I went to Tractor Supply Company and got a plastic watering trough for livestock. It holds 100 gal. You could go cheaper and use a kiddie pool. Not...

Not quite sure what you mean by heavy drag. It's not uncommon to have slightly more weather helm on one tack than the other. If your boat has a rudd...

Never owned one but sailed one a few times. The only thing I didn't like was the hard angle where the hull and deck meet. Hard on your butt and bare...

What about dacron that is cored with dyneema? Would that help the knot retention issue?

I watched some old guy with a very simple and workable system. He had an extendable mast support (yoke) so he was able to get the starting point high...

If the outside hulls were small amas instead of full sized hulls this could make a decent platform for a small tri. If it had a hard deck instead of ...

If you are still having trouble, turn the boat on it's side or with the mast off the boat and see why the "ball" will not engage properly. Make sure ...

"The sum of the parts is more than the whole." From what you said, one of those roto-molded Hobies would be your best bet. The larger one that is. ...

I had this happen with a NACRA 500 I used to own. When I had a local sailmaker make a tramp, they put to small a bolt rope in it. They fixed it. Si...

I agree with jalex about longer back up bars especially the one for the shrouds. If the back up bars aren't too large in diameter you might consider ...

There are plenty of Hobie 16s out there. Parts are plentiful and available. The boat is still being built and there is a strong owner following. Th...

The EZ stepper is problematic with Nacra. I had a 500 for 10 years and could not come to a solution that satisfied me. I trailered the boat backward...

I trailer with the boat backwards on the trailer. About 3/4 down the length of the mast towards the front of the boat I wrap a shock cord around all ...