British Hobie Cat Class Association

FXone info

Message #553 by:

Posted on:

Wednesday 2nd of July 2003 at 2:20 pm

Hello Phillip,

We sail the Hobie FXone in Holland more or less in the average trim the Hobie factory recommends. This means:
-mast rake: (after initial sailing)
-forestay 4th hole from bottom or 5th (middle) hole from bottom
-sidestays 3rd or 4th hole from the bottom.
mind: on flat water, or in solid trapeze conditions this seems to be fine. But we don't know yet what does well in a chop in non trapeze conditions. We think it to be necessary that the bows do not lift out of the water, otherwise they will slam the waves and the boat will come to a standstill.

-prebent: most dutch FXone sailors are heavy (90 kg or plus)
-spreaderrake: 4,5 -4,8 cm
-prebent: this is a point of discussion. The mast is very stiff. It is same mastprofile as the Tigers, but 60 cm shorter. So maybe it is a bit on the stiff side.
In light airs, on flattish waters and without strong puffs and lulls I sail with 0 cm prebent. This seems to work just fine. (I can keep up with the F18's and slower F20's) But in any other condition yhe boat does not accelerate. I am told that Mitch Booth sailed the 2002 Eurocup with at least 1,5 cm prebent. I found that 10 half turns on the turnbuckle give 4,5 mm of prebent.
But Mitch Booth suggested that with such a stiff mast, loose rig might work as well.
-Batten tension:
don't overtighten. Wrinkles out does the job.
-downhaul tension:
the range between downwind / up wind light air and 25+ knot upwind is really only 3 cm. Extra purchase on the downhaul gives you a little extra finesse. More downhaul line for less downhaul tension is much more accurate.
-daggerboards:
I leave the daggerboards down all the time. In a triangular course way to much time and attention is spent on raising the boards, time and attention you should be steering the boat.
-outhaul: not to tight. Don't bother adjusting the outhaul if you use the genaker.

-sailing with genaker
the Hobie FXone is a bit on the short side. So if you wonder if you should be trapezing in a choppy sea: don't. Ease the traveller 10 - 15 cm, adjust the mainsheet to let the talltales flow and find a nice curve downwind. The FXone is not a powerfull boat compared to other new designs. Flying a hull in marginal conditions won't give you an optimal VMG.

-handling the genaker
First and foremost, make sure the genaker sheet runs freely all the time, especially while gibing an dropping the genaker. I tightened the screws on the ratchet blocks to prevent the blocks from turning. Never let the sheet get stuck between the ratchet blocks and the decks. I even use small shockcords in addition to the springs provided by the Hobie factory.
Further, I have a shockcord that pulls the genakersheet to the rear beam.
I placed an extra block on the trampoline (also in an aft position), halfway between the block for the retriever line
and halliardcleat. This makes sure the halliard never gets stuck while hoisting and dropping. Also, I tied a piece of shockcord with a shackle to diamond turnbuckle. This makes sure the halliard runs free of the cleat while dropping.

Look at pictures of the new Tornado, these Olypimpic hopefulls are truely innovative in making the genakersystems simler and more reliable.

-dropping the genaker.
Don not bear off before dropping the chute. Ease the mainsheet way out, pull in the traveller, hook on the trapeze. Tighten the retriever line, uncleat the halliard, drop the genaker until all three patches have come together on the pole, after that luff around the buoy and pull the genaker in the snuffer whilst sailing upwind. This way you can pull the genaker in the snuffer with minimal effort, both on port and startboard tacks.

Have fum sailing your FXone. I you have any comments (e.g. on my english), I would very much like to hear them, especially when it comes to sailing upwind in a chop in marginal conditions.

Dirk Zwitser Hobie FX 307