Sailing a Hoot

The Hoot is a very responsive and very fast sailboat. It can plane to windward in about 7 knots — with the boatspeed at around 8 knots. The helm is close to neutral, so when you are sitting out on a wing, flying to windward, you can play the waves with just a light hand on the tiller. This takes some getting used to as the boat will turn quite dramatically if you get distracted.

The hardest thing to get used to is the acceleration. In any wind over about 7 knots, the Hoot comes out of a tack and starts accelerating instantly. This has the effect of knocking the boat over onto a wing as the apparent wind goes from 7 knots to 15 knots in the course of a couple of boatlengths. But when you adjust for that speed, and are sitting out on the wing a couple of feet above the water, the sensation is just great!

We’ve worked really hard to avoid strings on this sailboat. The controls are generally mainsheet and tiller, with secondary controls being the downhaul and vang. The downhaul and vang have similar effects with some subtle differences. Basically, the downhaul does most of the power control. Pull on the downhaul and the mast bends, the sail flattens, and the top twists off. If you’re overpowered, the effect is dramatic. The vang also controls mast bend, straightens the leech and flattens the foot. The vang’s effect is not nearly as important as the downhaul and we find that you can pretty much set it and forget it. The vang holds the boom down, so the mainsheet is used only for in and out control. This makes for a light load on the sheet so it is very easy to play. There is no need for a cleat (you Finn sailors can appreciate that).

Learning to sail a Hoot is just a question of figuring out the balance. The wings provide a way to avoid capsizing the boat while figuring it out. The boat will tilt over initially, then stop as a wing hits the water. Underneath each wing we have a pod that provides some flotation. Not enough flotation to keep the Hoot from capsizing should you really lose it, but enough to provide some help.

Sailing a Hoot fast requires keeping the boat very flat. Jibing in heavy air raises this skill to an art form. It requires a full commitment to the jibe. You go into the jibe as fast as possible, run it through flat and then hit the new high side before it gets up too high. Timing is everything. If you try to poke your way through a heavy-air jibe, you’re going over.

In light air, we’ve found that getting way forward and getting the transom up out of the water is key. If you are too far aft, you can hear the gurgle. Two Hoots running side by side, with one sailor forward and the other aft can result in a 25% difference in boat speed.

The Hoots are relatively easy to sail, but have a tremendous reserve of speed that can be brought out with good sailing. The speed difference between doing it right and doing it wrong is quite dramatic.