New Sails - pricing - age

So i just received my new jib after paying what appears to be a recent price increase - very excited to open it up as they are packaged so tightly and i want to get the creases out. I look at the logo with the measurement/manufacture date and this jib was dated in 2016!

Why did i pay a price increase/s - i would assume prices have been going up to keep up with costs of production, not storage etc.

Has the sail been jammed in that plastic sleeve since 2016 ?

Most likely, yes. I don't think Hobie sells as many H18 sails as they used to, and it's probably cheaper to make a bunch of them at once, then store them until they sell, then make a bunch more, rather than making a handful of new sails a year. This year especially, my Hobie dealer has told me a lot of the Hobie production was shut down so there are many parts he has been unable to get due to back order and the halt in production.


I think prices are going up to keep up with the cost of production... so if they'd produced the sail this year, it would've cost what you paid... but it's easier to just set the price of the products annually than to try to track & set the price based on when the last batch was made.

_________________
Mike

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

G’day,
If your “new” jib is from 2016 then it will be fine. Yes it will have been folded up in the plastic bag the whole time. Should Hobie have charged the new increased price for old stock? The simple answer is, would they have charged you a lower price if the prices had come down? The debate would then start around how much ongoing sport should/must the manufacturer give for classes that haven’t been built as new boats for 16 years etc etc; at what point does it get to before Hobie stop making new parts for classes like the H17, H18 & H20? Apparently the Hobie Cat Co only have enough spare parts for the Hobie 18 for the next two years (or thereabouts). The Class Association needs to start thinking about what role it will take in updating the H18 Class Rule as that decision will be pivotal in either keeping or killing the H18 Class. Remembering that it is the International Hobie Class Association (paid for by the member sailors) that decides the class rules, not the Hobie Cat Co.

Food for thought.

_________________
John Forbes
Hobie 18 Reimagined
Sail # 490
Boat name: 18@heart
http://www.hobie18.fun
https://www.facebook.com/Hobie18catamaran/