Hi everybody! I just bought my first Hobie Cat!! It's a Hobie 14 turbo that has a four digit number on both forward pylons so I believe it is pre-1973. I only paid $300 for her and that includes sails and the trailer. Everything is in really good shape except a couple of soft spots on the top of the hulls. One is about 6x8 inches in front of trampoline on the right side and another a little larger (probably 6x18 inches) on the left side and then a small one behind the trampoline on the left side. Everything else is in really good shape - tramp frame, mast, boom, sails are excellent, rigging, and even the trampoline vinyl isn't torn (it's a little stiff from age though). The soft spots don't seem to be very soft, just compress a little. I don't really hear the "crunch" of the foam like I hear on some of the YouTube videos on the subject. So . . . my question is: If I'm only going to sail on a pretty calm lake in wind that isn't that hard, do I need to spend the time and money to repair the soft spots? Or should I just save my money, go have fun sailing, and when she won't sail anymore I can just sell the sails, mast, boom, and other parts and buy a nice Hobie 16? Thanks in advance for any advice on this!!
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