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What to buy?
Hobie 16 20%  20%  [ 1 ]
Hobie 18 (1987) 60%  60%  [ 3 ]
Newer Hobie 18 20%  20%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 5
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:07 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:13 am
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Hello Hobie Sailors,

These forums have been an invaluable source of information in the last few weeks as I look at buying my first cat. Thank you.

I'm caught in the final stages of my purchase between a Hobie 18 and a Hobie 16. My goal is to be able to single hand coastal cruise/beach camp and these seem like the best options for affordability and parts availability.

Question 1: Is single handing a Hobie 18 with gear feasible? This is my first Cat but I've sailed several monohulls singlehanded including a dinghy and a 22ft keel boat. I'm 5'10, 190lbs young and strong and I believe I would be able to right easily after a capsize after building a 8ft righting poll. I understand rigging might be the most burdensome task here but I've seen several videos of people doing it alone. I'm attracted to this option because the 18 seems much more stable, safer, more seaworthy than the 16 due to pitchpoling issues and daggerboards. Also more room for gear or friends.

Question 2: Is a 1987 Hobie 18 with a crack in the hull a bad idea? I am in the Southeast US and this is an option a few hours away in Florida. I heard this year 18 can have a weak hull and the owner said that a crack developed from sitting on the trailer. I like this option because it's only $2,500 and comes with a lot of new standing rigging, trampoline, EPO rudders (although one looks chipped). The crack appears only 4-5 inches long and too thin for glass, but I plan to seep resin from the West Marine repair kit into the crack from the outside. I have experience with glass but this seems like all that is possible since the crack is small and far from the hatch. Would this be a solid repair or is this boat going to incur similar damages from use and trailering?
Here is the link for those that would like to view the ad: https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/254244399406301/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=hobie%2018&tracking=%7B%22qid%22%3A%22-7998189593630373025%22%2C%22mf_story_key%22%3A%223840126342765822%22%2C%22commerce_rank_obj%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22target_id%5C%22%3A3840126342765822%2C%5C%22target_type%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22primary_position%5C%22%3A-1%2C%5C%22ranking_signature%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22commerce_channel%5C%22%3A503%2C%5C%22value%5C%22%3A0%7D%22%7D
[img]IMG_8923.JPG
IMG_8922.JPG[/img]

Hopefully you can view those images and ad. I'm also attaching a poll for ease of replying. I appreciate any input.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:04 am 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
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Location: Jersey Shore
An 18 can be single handed, but at your size you will start to be overpowerd once the windspeed gets into the low teens. If you’re planning on doing some cruising, you may want to look into potentially adding a set of reef points to the mainsail. Also take into consideration moving the boat around the beach single handed. The 18 is about 400lbs. Then add some camping gear and it could be a challenge for one person to drag up the beach.

I didn’t see a crack in the pictures you posted, but generally speaking, just drizzling some epoxy into any crack is not going to be a lasting fix. If the crack is anything other than a hairline fracture of the gelcoat, then it needs to be fixed with glass. That would mean grinding out the broken fiberglass and laminating new glass and re-gelcoating. Depending on where the crack is located on the hull, it would either be in the solid fiberglass or the foam sandwich section.

sm


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 5:16 pm 
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Rigging an 18 singlehanded may be more harder than sailing, but it can be done. You might consider buying a boat for parts. I've never seen hull issues like where you describe. I doubt it happened in open water.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:23 pm 
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sm, thanks for your reply. Reef points are a great idea. Would definitely take some jerry rigging to move solo.

I still like the H18 more for camp/cruising and seaworthiness but I don't believe that the fiber glass repairs for the crack and delamination on the 1987 H18 would be worth the effort because from research it seems that those boats simply weren't built to last and would likely incur more cracking near the cross bars, where the current crack is, and wider delam.

I don't seem to have any other H18 options in my area. I've been searching craigslist and facebook marketplace far and wide in the SouthEast US.

I think I'll settle for an H16 with solid hulls, rig camping gear on top, and be ready to right it more often. Thanks!


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:58 am 
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Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 3:15 pm
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Location: Buffalo, NY
Agreed with srm. To add my $0.02:

I've easily single handed my H18 in winds up to about 15 mph, though that involved a lot of pinching and trapping out, and active sheet management... but it's not hard once you get a feel for the boat. The challenge, as you've surmised, is righting the boat solo. Can't be done with anything other than a righting pole, but if you make one of those, you'll be set.

To srm's point, the other challenge with the 18 is that it is very difficult to move around the beach solo... even with 2 people it's a handful. But if you're not planning on dragging it up and down the beach, that's no issue for you.

I agree with your assessment otherwise, the H18 is the better sailing boat, more stable, and more room for friends or gear... plus onboard storage! The hull ports don't hold much, but it's better than what you've got on a 16!

With regards to the crack... presumably the crack is where the boat sat on the rollers. That definitely needs to be repaired, but it's not a reason to skip the boat entirely. 1987 was past the redline years, and should be a pretty solid boat (note that the redline boats weren't weak boats, but they were built lightweight and fast, so they aren't as bulletproof as the earlier/later boats). The crack definitely needs to be repaired properly, however. I just picked up a set of hulls that were cracked in way of the rollers. I had to sand my way through 1/4" of fiberglass... the crack was clean through the hull. Then I layered up new layers of fiberglass & polyester resin, sanded it down and covered it with gel coat. Like srm said, epoxy won't fix a crack like that.

If you replace the rollers with bunks, you can prevent developing similar cracks in the future.

_________________
Mike
Image
'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 11:10 am 
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Thanks for your input Mike, solidified the H18 as the better choice. That's great how you did a similar repair recently, but you must have had to remove the hull to flip it over and do the repair? If I can figure that out without destroying the hulls then I just need to copy your repair and buy a can of green gelcoat. I was more generally concerned about the hulls because I would also have to repair a couple square feet of delamination on the top of one hull and various spider cracks. Some fiberglass guys quoted me $600 for the crack over the phone, so I guess I would opt to buy my own supplies and spend a couple weekends on it.

This all seems doable, however, I also just found a Nacra 5.2 and a Prindle 18 on facebook. Both are for a $1k (so $1.5k less than the H18) and both seem to be in great shape with all pieces, so should be no projects :P . At the risk of introducing the potential for some kind of beach cat turf war, I am currently leaning towards the Nacra 5.2. Seems fastest, easier to single hand and right alone, even without pole. Anyone sail either of these boats willing to comment?


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 12:53 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 12, 2021 3:51 pm
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Location: Poplar Grove, IL
danimal35 wrote:
This all seems doable, however, I also just found a Nacra 5.2 and a Prindle 18 on facebook. Both are for a $1k (so $1.5k less than the H18) and both seem to be in great shape with all pieces, so should be no projects :P . At the risk of introducing the potential for some kind of beach cat turf war, I am currently leaning towards the Nacra 5.2. Seems fastest, easier to single hand and right alone, even without pole. Anyone sail either of these boats willing to comment?


Head on over to https://www.thebeachcats.com/forums and you will get some good input on the Nacra and Prindle.

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Poplar Grove, IL
1977 Hobie 16 (died a spectacular death https://youtu.be/Y7O22bp2MVA)
1978 Hobie 16


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:20 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 3:15 pm
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Location: Buffalo, NY
No hate here, Nacra makes some great boats! I personally wouldn't consider a Prindle.

The repair is easy enough, and the crossbars come off with 4 bolts each... really couldn't be simpler. Definitely a repair worth disassembling the boat for. Personally, I'd buy a 1987 boat in a heartbeat over a 1978/79... those boats are just at end of life because of delamination issues, in my experience... though I just picked up some '78 hulls which seem solid. Maybe I'll get close to 10 years out of them, like I did my last set.

Spider cracking in gel coat is nothing to be concerned about, most boats have that. My '08 H16 has them all over... it's just a byproduct of the boat flexing over time, no big concern there. Delam in the decks is repairable (did that as well to my '79 boat, and it held up for 5+ years... it would've held up longer, but the sides of the hulls started to delam... in my case because of an unrepaired ding/crack in the side that allowed moisture to get into the foam core... same thing that caused the deck delam, actually... As long as you promptly repair any dings through the outer layer of fiberglass, you shouldn't see too many issues with delam). Decks are common areas for delamination, but that's from the repeated compression from sitting on them. Mine were rock solid after epoxy repairs (drill & fill method), and I'm confident any boat with similar deck delam could be repaired without too much concern.

However, if you haven't noticed, this is a common theme with older H18's... they're approaching end of life due to delam issues, and it's getting to be a chore to keep them in good working order, and the "good ones" are getting harder to find. It's still a great boat well worth buying and sailing, but it's unfortunately nearing 20 years out of production... most are 30-50 years out of production, and fiberglass boats just don't last that long. :(

_________________
Mike
Image
'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:56 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:13 am
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Hey all, very grateful for the comments and just wanted to provide an update! I bought a Hobie 18 for $3,200 with some extra parts in great shape. Have brought 1-2 friends on (nonsailors). Very stable, fast, lots of fun. Built a really solid locking sailtube. "Absolute Vodka" logo on the sails if you happen to see us around the southeast! Don’t see a way to share photos here :( but thanks again everyone! Will have to build the righting pole and try some more solo high winds next season


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 1:37 pm 
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Posts: 1182
Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
Congratulations.
Check out this Forum, especially inside the portholes, and look to see that there is a tab of fibreglass between the deck and sidewalls of the hulls.
If not, read up about this critical modification.
Sail well, I miss my old H18SX.

I have a spare set of daggers...now for sale.

cheers

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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