Hobie Forums
http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/

Best place to buy new sails?
http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=63393		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Drakeman30 [ Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:33 am ]
Post subject:  Best place to buy new sails?
I just bought a H18 in great shape but I am missing the main sail, where is the best place to buy a new main or used?

Another note can you still buy the wings somewhere?
Author:  SabresfortheCup [ Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Congrats on your new boat! The H18 is a blast I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It doesn't sail very well without the mainsail, however (don't ask) :lol:

Most commonly, people buy used Hobie sails on ebay in varying conditions, for $200-$300. If you have a Hobie dealer near you, they might be able to sell you one too. New mainsails from Hobie are $1200, but a dealer that's been sitting on a new H18 mainsail for a few years may be willing to sell it to you for less. There's also a sailmaker called Whirlwind sails with a very good reputation that will make them new and ship them to you for $750-$900 for the classic style. So I suppose it all comes down to what you can afford and what you're looking for.
Author:  srm [ Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Drakeman30 wrote:
Another note can you still buy the wings somewhere?


Hobie stopped manufacturing the wings quite some time ago. You can only get them on the used market. Expect to pay anywhere from $500-$1,000 for a decent set. Also, check whether or not the seller is including all of the attaching hardware or you will likely end up spending another $100 or so to install them on your boat. Inspect the welds for the support struts closely too or you can expect to plunk down another $100 or so to repair any cracks...

sm
Author:  musicman [ Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Drakeman, just be aware that if you are going to race the boat in Hobie Sanctioned events (hopefully that's the plan) then you need to have Hobie manufactured sails.. new or used.... However, if you are sailing only for pleasure, then any brand will do.

where are you located? do you have a fleet near you?
Author:  John Forbes [ Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Here is a good one on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hobie-18-Main- ... Sw1d9bZ0T2

The 17,000 series sail numbers are the latest ones.
Anything with a 10,000 to 16,000 series are 10-15 years old
Anything with a sail number under 9,999 will be from the 1970's or 1980's
Author:  SabresfortheCup [ Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
musicman wrote:
Drakeman, just be aware that if you are going to race the boat in Hobie Sanctioned events (hopefully that's the plan) then you need to have Hobie manufactured sails

Good point musicman, I forgot to mention that Hobie sails are required to remain "class legal." However, that doesn't hold much weight in my book, as it's difficult to even FIND another Hobie 18 to race against, class legal or not.

I've been trying to find other Hobie 18's to race with for a few years now, and the only regattas I've found in the Great Lakes region are either 1) open regattas not sanctioned by Hobie, or 2) Hobie sanctioned regattas in which I'm the only Hobie 18.

Personally, I don't think it's worth spending an extra 50% on sails to remain "class legal" when the class is more or less defunct, and my 40 year old boat could use the $$ spent on other upgrades & maintenance. Hobie would be wise, particularly with the Hobie 18 fleet, to relax their interpretation & enforcement of "class legal." Better to have 10 boats to race with that are all pseudo-class legal than to keep the current restrictions and have none. The only Hobie sanctioned events east of the Mississippi that I'm aware of with a Hobie 18 turnout are in New Jersey, and I'd bet they'd be happy to have another boat to race with, regardless of where they got their sails.

So if anyone in the great lakes region wants to race, I don't care where you got your sails or if you have wings, SX mast, spinnaker or a comptip, hit me up! :lol: Until then I'll be sailing with CRAM and the Sharks in Canandaigua!
Author:  srm [ Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
SabresfortheCup wrote:
The only Hobie sanctioned events east of the Mississippi that I'm aware of with a Hobie 18 turnout are in New Jersey, and I'd bet they'd be happy to have another boat to race with, regardless of where they got their sails.


Sadly, even in NJ (Division 11) the Hobie 18 racing fleet is all but dead. I think there was only one regatta this year that had more than one 18 and unfortunately it ended up being more or less shut out due to weather (zero wind saturday, 25-30 mph sunday). Most regattas have had zero 18’s. But if there was interest, I would certainly try to get my boat on the water for a race or two. Currently it is all 14, 16, and 17 racing with the 14’s usually being the biggest class (how the hell did that happen??).

sm
Author:  John Forbes [ Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Come Down Under. We have 15+ boats. They are all 15 to 25 years old. We too prefer to get bums on seats at low cost as opposed to being 100% Class legal at high cost.

We have great social racing but even greater social events off the water.

Check us out at our new webpage or on Facebook HOBIE 18 SCENE
Author:  TAMUmpower [ Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
We have 10+ in Jacksonville FL with varying degrees of class legalness. The hobie tramp rule sorta screws everyone though since everyone just gets an aftermarket tramp. Seems like just a rule that’s there for business purposes to sell more tramps. Other things like the downhaul band and warning stickers on the mast to be required to be class legal is just dumb. Rarely is there a mast that’s hasn’t had the sun cook those right off.
Author:  SabresfortheCup [ Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
TAMUmpower wrote:
We have 10+ in Jacksonville FL with varying degrees of class legalness. The hobie tramp rule sorta screws everyone though since everyone just gets an aftermarket tramp. Seems like just a rule that’s there for business purposes to sell more tramps. Other things like the downhaul band and warning stickers on the mast to be required to be class legal is just dumb. Rarely is there a mast that’s hasn’t had the sun cook those right off.


I forgot about the tramp rule! I'm lucky enough to still have an original Hobie vinyl tramp, due in part to my boat having been kept in storage, keeping the boat covered when not in use, and storing the tramp indoors during the winter months. I'm not looking forward to the day that I have to find a replacement, as I prefer the colored vinyl tramps, but nobody seems to make those anymore. :(

I believe any downhaul up to 8:1 is now class legal? It's really the comp tip, OEM tramp and OEM sail requirements that result in few class legal boats, and ought to be removed. But I'm sure nobody is interested in updating class rules for a vanishing class of boats.
Author:  musicman [ Sun Nov 25, 2018 1:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Best place to buy new sails?
Hey Sabres and SRM, It is unfortunate that you don' t have a fleet in your area. Ours is growing at this point and we usually see 10-12 boats at a div regatta. We were down to 3 at one point, but slowly we are growing again.
in 2017 for the NA's in NJ 7 teams from the northwest made the trip to compete, there was only 1 boat from the east coast anywhere....
I know there is a group in Florida and we are trying to get an NA's to be hosted out there somewhere to help encourage the fleet. We have had the event quite a bit on the west side of the country the past few years, but would like to see it go east, but we need people to put up their hands and host. We do not have a problem in travelling, so those who want to see the fleet grow a bit will have to do the same.
There is talk of the event for 2019 being hosted somewhere in the central/ south area of the US... not sure yet, or of the time. If you want to race against other H18's that is the place to start, and it takes 1 person who is willing to stack and drive to encourage sailors to come.... take away the excuses and make it easier for everyone....
I know it's not as easy as i make it sound, but it can be done... i've been doing it for years.
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/