Tuning the Hobie 20
by Steve Leo, Fleet 3, Irvine, CA
There are many Hobie 20 enthusiasts who lack the time and experience to tune their boats to be competitive. They race the Hobie 20 because it is one of the most exciting, fun, fast, competitive boat around. This tuning article will try to make these fun loving sailors a little more competitive with the “Rock Stars.”
As most of you are aware, the Hobie Cat Company took over the manufacturing of the Hobie 20 sails in midsummer of 1995. In the transition from Skip Elliott Sails to the Hobie sail loft, there has been some variation in the mainsail. This, along with the fact that they are using new battens since their past supplier went out of business, has caused a dramatic variation in the sails. This article will discuss the tuning of this “new” Hobie 20 mainsail.
These new sails with Hobie’s new battens have not been very competitive when tuned in the same manner as the Elliott sails. Well, throw out everything you ever did to the Elliott sails and start with a fresh perspective. The new sails are much flatter and the new battens have a totally different flex pattern.
I sail with a “new” Hobie sail and with Hobie battens and have been able to obtain competitive boat speed simply by changing the mast pre-bend and diamond tension. When tensioning your battens, you want them to be good and snug but not so tight that they distort the shape of the sail.
The trend in the past has been to build a substantial amount of pre-bend into the Hobie 20 mast, which allowed you to control and flatten the fairly full Elliott sails. Well, you guessed it.. .not with the new Hobie sails. Due to the flatness and cut of the current sails, if you put a lot of pre-bend in your mast you will have absolutely no sail shape. I have gained a tremendous amount of sail shape, and therefore boat speed, in all conditions by taking most of the prebend out of the mast. This has given my sail shape and given me the power I need in lighter and medium range winds. By using the downhaul, outhaul and mast rotation I still have the ability to really flatten the sail in heavier winds.
It will take a little bit of adjusting to get your mast adjusted to your sail, but here is a good place to start. Adjust the spreaders so you have about 3/4” to 1” of rake. Measure this by laying a straight edge across the spreaders from tip to tip, on the metal spreader not the rollers or wire. Start measuring with about five threads showing on your adjustable spreader end caps.
Measure from the straight edge to the u sail track on the trailing edge of the mast. Make sure you push the spreaders toward the trailing edge of the mast before you measure, as that is where they will sit when you tighten the diamond wires.
Once your spreader rake is set, tighten your diamond wires to approximately 450 pounds. From this point it becomes very easy for you to tighten or loosen your diamond wires until you get the proper shape in your sail. I recommend you sail the boat in a reasonable wind before you make your tension adjustments. You really do not see the true shape of the sail on the beach. When you are underway with wind in your sail and when all your other settings such as outhaul, downhaul and mast rotation are taking their full affect on the sail, that is when you make your determination on your sail shape.
These tips have been very successful for me and a number of other Hobie 20 skippers who have the “new’ sails.
Ed Note: Steve has been involved in Hobie Cat racing for over 25 years, having raced Hobie 14, 16, 17, 18 and 20 in everything from local fleet races to 12 World Championships. For the past 7 years, Steve has been racing the Hobie 20 successfully, having competed in three Continental Championships. most recently in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, where he finished 7th. Steve also placed first in Hobie 20’s at the 1997/99/01 Mid Winters West in San Felipe, Mexico