Hobie TriFoiler, Assembly Manual

17

backward by itself, but it is good to know how

to use the sails to go backward. In general, to

get the boat to go backward you want to use

the sail link to push the sails away from center

line, but if the wind is coming from the wrong

direction, the boat will sail forward or sideways

and not backward. 

If the boat does not go backward when you

push the sails out, you should push the sails

out to the other side. If the wind is slightly off

the nose, it will go backward much more easily

with the sails on one side as opposed to the

other. For example, if the wind is coming

slightly off the starboard side, you want to push

the sail link to the port side and turn the rudder

to the right. Since the boat is going backward,

it will turn to the left.

Once the boat has backed up and turned suf-

ficiently away from the wind, you can sheet in,

reverse the rudder (turn to the left) and take

off. If the wind is strong, you need to sheet in

quickly as the boat will begin to round up as

the sails are beginning to fill. The boat will tend

to round up when the sails are partially filled,

but once they are completely filled, it will begin

to bear away and move forward.

2)

You can skull the rudder to help turn the

boat. For example, turn the rudder all the way

to the right slowly and then quickly turn it all

the way to the left. This action will turn the boat

slightly to the left. This is only helpful when the

wind is light, but can be useful in tight quarters. 

3)

Retracting the sensors will help you get

out of irons. At low speed, the sensors  will

create some lateral resistance and since they

are well forward they will cause the boat to

head up. If all else fails, pull the red lines and

retract the sensors. Just remember to release

them as you pick up speed.

4)

The curve of the battens will have an

affect on the action of the boat. If the battens

are curved out on each sail, the boat will be

very difficult to get out of irons. If the battens

are curved in, it will be impossible to keep it in

irons. To get the battens to pop over, you can

give a quick push or pull on the sail link to pop

them to the other side.

Boat  Handling

The new sailor should practice boat handling

in open water so he/she is proficient at handling

the boat in confined areas. It is quite likely that

you will be able to sail all day with no problems;

but, you may suddenly need to get out of irons

and onto a particular tack and you have very lit-

tle space to back up. It is important to know how

the boat will respond to different inputs in vari-

ous conditions.

The key things to look for are which direction

the wind is blowing and in which direction the

boat is moving. Keep "tell tales" on the boat. A

piece of yarn or magnetic recording tape half

way up the forestays is best and look at the

water next to the hull to determine if the boat is

moving forward or backward. Whether the boat

is moving forward or back will determine which

way to turn the rudder.

Tacking

When on the foils, a tack is very easy to do.

Simply turn into the wind. Start the turn slowly,

but as the boat slows down, increase the rate

of the turn until the rudder is all the way over.

For a better tack, sheet in as the boat nears

the eye of the wind. Continue turning until you

are on a reach again. Let the sheet out so that

the sail link is about 2’ off center line or the

sails will stall when you start the new tack.