Mast Rake for your Hobie Cat Boat

First, what is “mast rake”? Mast lean is how far forward or backward the mast leans. Usually, if your mast is tilted, you have it tilted towards the rear of the boat. When sailing a multihull boat, such as a catamaran, there is a little trick that can make all the difference in the way you sail. Mast Rake is an easy thing to change and will make a difference. Especially on a Hobie cat boat. Neck tilt actually affects a lot of different things and some surprising things you might not know.

1. The straighter the mast, the greater the force of the wind that will push down on the front of the boat. So if you’re thinking of sailing fast, you’ll have to get back on the ship! To avoid as many pitch bumps, adjust the mast tilt back. Also, having the mast almost straight will not allow the boat to point as well. There are a few considerations to keep in mind about how far and how much you want to spend on mast tilt. You are probably thinking why should you spend money on a mast rake? Let me explain in a minute.

2. Putting the mast tilt back will mostly help the boat point better into the wind. If you like racing, this can be a great advantage! (especially for a small sailboat like a 16!) Another thing that changes is the feel at the rudder stick. While the down pressure changes from being more forward to aft, the rudders are now taking more pressure. This will make the rudder feel harder to turn the boat. If I could give my opinion, I definitely recommend raking the neck. It’s worth taking the hit on the rudder stick for the improved performance you get.

3. Now let’s talk about how you set the commission. Shrouds are attached to the ship with a thing called a chain plate. This is pretty easy to do, you just need to put the pins in a higher hole in the chain plate. You do the same on the stay. (if you need to get even more mast tilt, you can get another chain plate and connect it to the existing one, then put your davit through the top chain plate).
Now that you have changed the tilt of the mast, if you have an old style seaway main block (stacked block), you will no longer be able to use it. (The main sheet has 3 blocks). If you sheet on the main sheet all the way, there is no room for the seaway block. You will need to update your main block to 6:1. These work great. If you buy a new one, it will cost you up to $200. If you look on e-bay, they show up from time to time for around $50.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *