Hobie 18 rig?

[ThomD]

Can someone help identify my rig? It is for sure for some kind Hobie rig, I was told when I bought it that it was an 18. It is old. The spar is 26' long, which seems to be standard for the 16 today, but this is an old rig, was the 18 ever this dimension? How else can I tell what rig it is? It works fine for now.

At some point I will need "new" sails, and my preference is to recut or reuse another set of old sails. I was evaluating just such a set today, and came up against the fact that I am not for sure even what rig I have. I need that as a starting point.

[dstgean]

Originally Posted by ThomD

Can someone help identify my rig? It is for sure for some kind Hobie rig, I was told when I bought it that it was an 18. It is old. The spar is 26' long, which seems to be standard for the 16 today, but this is an old rig, was the 18 ever this dimension? How else can I tell what rig it is? It works fine for now.

At some point I will need "new" sails, and my preference is to recut or reuse another set of old sails. I was evaluating just such a set today, and came up against the fact that I am not for sure even what rig I have. I need that as a starting point.

The h18 rig is quite different in both section and length from the 16 rig. My H18 rig is 28' + some odd inches. The SX version is even longer by some inches. It also has diamonds and an internal halyard IN the luff track. the H16 has a halyard that goes over the top with a wire end to the halyard that is captured on the front face of the mast by a v shaped metal piece.

Is is solid aluminum? If so that's a + in my book.

Dan

[bruceb]

Each Hobie had a unique base/stepping system. The 14 is a much smaller mast section, the 16 used an open half "ball" on the bottom and the 18 and later boats used a hinge. If your mast has a large sheave at the top, is 26' and a male ball at the bottom with one or two holes in the back of the casting, it is probably a Hobie 16- or possibly one of the other cats made back in the 70's and 80's. Prindels used a similar mast, among others. "Most" Hobie hardware has a "H" logo somewhere stamped on it. In the for what ever it is worth department, The 16 and 18 masts, if uncut, (still all alloy), can have some or all of a fiberglass "comp tip" added- and the tips are available as replacement parts or sometimes at OLD Hobie dealers- due to lawsuits, back in the 80's a replacement tip was sent to the dealer for every boat that they had ever sold, and some were never installed. I still have several in my basement A really nice light spar up to 33'-36' can be assembled if you add the proper support. B