Hobie TriFoiler, Assembly Manual

is best to retract that foil before you get close

to the beach. When you are heading toward

the beach, the leeward foil will be retracted so

you will not be able to push it hard or that hull

may submerge. Therefore, sail slowly toward

the beach. As the water gets shallow, start

turning into the wind. Get the rudder up. As

soon as the rudder is up, jump out and keep

the boat into the wind. Retract the remaining

foil from the cockpit and you are ready to pull

the boat up the beach.

Reefing

The TriFoiler has 215 square feet of sail. The

sails can be reefed to 150 square feet. It is

desirable to reef once the wind is above 16

knots. Beginners should learn to sail with the

sails reefed as the boat is easier to sail this

way. The masts rotate better and things hap-

pen more slowly, although the top speed of the

boat is better with the sails reefed.

To reef: undo the outhaul and the downhaul.

Undo the load straps and unzip the panel.

Attach the rope halyard and unlock the halyard

at the top of the mast. Let the sail down and

lock the halyard in the reefed position. Coil the

excess halyard and stow it onto the mast.

Redo the outhaul, the downhaul and it is ready. 

When replacing the panel, make sure

there is tension on the load straps.

16

Skills  the  TriFoiler  Pilot  

Should  Have

Getting out of Irons

Irons: the boat is pointed into the wind and

cannot sail.

Since the TriFoiler does not have a jib, there

are several techniques one can use to maneu-

ver when it is in irons. Getting out of irons

becomes more difficult as the wind speed

increases. The reason for this is not obvious,

but it is good to understand why. The basic

reason is that the center of effort on the sail

moves back as the wind speed increases and

the boat has a greater tendency to round up.

In light wind it is easy to sheet in tight and

make the sails work properly; then the boat

can take off. In stronger wind it is difficult to

sheet in tight and get the sails to fill totally and

work properly.

As you sheet in, the center of effort will move

forward and cause the bow to bear away, but

you should not sheet in too much or you

will sink the leeward ama

. Therefore, you

need to sheet in tight, but be ready to sheet

out quickly if the leeward ama goes under.

The pilot can do several things to get out of

irons:

1)

The new sailor should learn to back up the

boat. This takes practice. There is a lot to learn

about getting the boat to go backward, but

once it is going backward you can use the rud-

der to steer it away from the wind.

In stronger wind the boat will begin to drift