Category: Do-It-Yourself

Introducing TORUS™ (Tip Over Resisting and Uprighting System) for the Hobie 17. Here's a system that promises to make catamaran sailing more accessable for those that feel capsizing is not an option. Read how inventor Ron Darby has solved his capsize problems on the Hobie 17...

For 33 years I have lived on year-around warm, windy and relatively flat Kaneohe Bay on Oahu, Hawaii. I have enjoyed all kinds of sail boating on the Bay including sailboards and full keel monohulls. However, since my son-in-law started bringing Hobies here about 16 years ago, I spend most of the time fooling with them.

I started soloing his Hobie 17 and a few years ago I was humbled with capsizing, and though the buoyant mast stopped the turtling, I could not get it up without the help of a passing boat. I’m 158 lbs. & 71 yrs. and just couldn’t overcome the windage from the tramps and upper hull.

I really liked sailing my Hobie 16 with my wife and dog when we first got the boat last summer, and wanted to enjoy exploring the lakes around the parkland area. But after about an hour of cruising, sitting up at the helm got a little hard on the back, and I got jealous of the wife being able to lie out on the trampoline in the sun. So I started looking for some way to put a lawn chair on the cat.

The wings that existed for the Hobie 18 seemed a solution, but I wanted a more comfortable answer for day-long cruising. I found some references to trap seats but they seemed too expensive for a lawn chair. So using the few grainy pics that I could find on the internet as reference, I got to work making my own.

This article will explain the step-by-step method of repairing soft spots in your beach catamaran hulls. This technique uses the method of injecting thickened epoxy into a catamaran hull using a syringe.

This method is well suited to repairing soft spots in catamaran hulls. The soft spots can be found by pressing carefully with your fingers on the hull. Usually they are on the top or upper side of a hull.  When you apply pressure to a soft spot, the area will detent slightly and even give a "squish" sound.   The soft area can be a few square inches or entire areas of a hull.

This article will explain the step-by-step method of epoxying the frame of a Hobie 16 together to achieve a stiff, well sailing boat.  The techniques will be very similar and can be applied to a Hobie 14.  This article does not pertain to other Hobies since they do not have the elevated 3 corner casting design.

Build your own Catamaran Storage Tube with these illustrated instructions. Thanks to Donny Pattullo for providing so much detail.