Hull damaged today -- Is it fixable?!? + hobie sailors rock!

So I was out today on my 4th sail in my '81 H16. We were in on a lake in about 12 mph of wind and sailing upwind in an attempt to fly a hull for the first time. Port side hull was just starting to pull up out of the water when I heard a "crunching" sound and looked down to see cracks in the hull right around the the shroud line. Fearing the worse I depowered and limped in. Game over for the day. Upon closer inspection the cracks are on either side of the metal rod under the deck lip that holds the shroud line on. At least one of the cracks is all the way through and into the deck of the hull. The other couple are at least partway through. How tragic is this? Any chance of repairing the hull or is this a sign the the hull itself is failing? If it is repairable, what type of place would I contact to do the repair?

If it isn't repairable I actually had an incredible thing happen after the hull crack. After limping in we had lunch. We left the injured H16 tied off to the dock. I went down after lunch to start unrigging the boat. A gentleman was standing in front of the boat looking at it. We talked for a few minutes and I told him about the problems of the day. Turns out the guy had sailed H16's through the '80's and beyond. He mentioned to me that he had a H16 he was looking to GIVE away because he really wasn't able to sail it and taking up too much room in the backyard. I was FLOORED by this offer. I am not sure exactly what shape the boat is in but an unbelievable turn of events for the day. I asked him if he wouldn't take any money for the boat would he at least come out sailing with me....his face lit up. I have to say sailors, in general, but Hobie sailors, in particular, are awesome people.

I had something similar happen on another boat. My Minuet had the shroud plates bolted to wood that had long ago rotted, so I pulled the plates out, had some custom plates made at a metal fab shop, and rebolted them to the side of the hull where the fiberglass is thickest. On that boat it was feasable to do this because I had access to the inside of the boat, on hobies unless you have put in an inspection port near the shroud bottoms it wouldn't be feasable, not to mention it would be ugly, but it is an option. If that guys hulls are sound you could just make a frankenstein boat...

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Chronic Projectaholic
Orange Crusher

Major fractures in the deck at the shroud anchor may be the death knell for your hull. Sounds like your guardian angel showed up at just the right time. You must be doing something right.

I bought a mid '70s H16 2 years ago. Sailed it for a season before I noticed that the inner-side of one hull developed waves/ripples over its whole surface...12-18 inches peak to peak and about 1/4 inch deep. It looked like it was getting ready to buckle so I started surfing Craigslist looking to buy a boat with a broken rig. Lucky for me I found a guy giving away a sturdy set of '85 hulls that needed glass-work on one keel. They came with a set of crossbars and a mast too. Got to love a free boat, even when it needs a little TLC.

If you decide to part out the damaged one, I could use some new rudders, one of mine just broke off just as I was starting to fly, talk about an instant adventure....

I had exactly the same thing happen to me three years ago on my '79 H16, except I had a hull in the air and the shroud anchor rod came through the hull and we demasted. It opened about four feet of the hull and the hull immediately filled with water. Thanks to a ski boat that had seen the whole thing we were able to get it to shore.

Needless to say the hull was toast, so I parted out the boat and used the cash to help buy my new ride. My advice to you is to do the same thing. Regardless if you make the repairs, everytime you put a load on those shrouds you'll be thinking about it failing and this will hinder your ability to sail with confidence.

What year was the boat? I didn't find out until later that the '79's were prone to delamination and many boats of that year had died the same way. I can't complain too much because it was an older brother who had gifted the boat to me, but I still give him crap about trying to kill me with the dang thing.

Find yourself a solid ride and get the hell back on the water!

There's a saying that, "If it's fiberglass, it can be fixed."

However, the cost (time + money) of fixing something like that may exceed the value of the hull, when you may be able to get a cheap replacement.

An "ugly fix" is fairly simple and straightforward. But it won't look good.

A "like new fix" is significantly more difficult and time consuming.

I have to jump in on this one, same thing happened to me: a friend and I were sailing in strong winds one day, like 18 mph or so, he was trappen out, I was hanging off the starboard stern, we were flying!! all of a sudden, LOUD boom, he went catapulting into the mainsail, down and onto the tramp, I looked down at the hull right where the shrouds goes into the hull, a 4' section had lifted up at the anchor bar also, like it was on a hinge, the flap stopped underneath the side rail, luckly! So with the wind to my back, I had enough time to think things out before we had to tack, when that time came, we tacked, both hanging out to keep the huge hole out of the water, we got about 50' from the ramp and our luck ran out and the water poured in, sank like a ROCK! Had to use a car and a long rope to drag it up on shore, where I preceded to rip the rudder off. A local Hobie rental guy gave me a used hull, back on the water with-in days. Hobie fanatics rock!!!