a '82 hobie 16' cat w/ trailor in good condition for $2000?

im new to beach cats and sailing in general. im looking at buying my first 16' cat... the asking price is $2000 w/ trailor. obviously, the condition of the boat is a major factor. is a '82 16' hobie cat w/ trailor in good to fair condition worth $2000.00? should i hold out for a newer boat ('84/'86)?

The more experienced will chime in I'm sure, but to me that sounds very expensive. It would have to be in great/excellent condition with all of the upgrades to justify that price in my opinion. For instance, I got an 83' hobie in fair condition for 800 with trailer and some upgrades like 6:1 harken blocks, hot stick, trap gear, and a few others. Have you checked the boat out in person?

You'll also want to take into account what you plan on using it for. Recreation vs. racing. I've had some problems with my boat, mainly delaminated hulls, but have mostly just been using it for recreation. Now that I'm becoming more interested in racing I'm saving up for an upgrade to a newer, more solid boat. Too bad the education system doesn't quite give teachers a sailor's salary , but at least I have tons of summer sailing time . I guess it all evens out

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

It depends on where you live and if there are any other boats available, supply and demand. Good used boats in this area seem to go for about that price. if the hulls are soft walk away, or offer them something like 300 bucks!

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Brad Stephens
[email protected]
(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
http://www.sunjammers.com
www.facebook.com/sunjammers

rec or racing... hmmmm
as of now i have very basic sailing experience. my plan is to get into sailing for as little as possible, and beach cats seem like the way to do it. im not cheap, just financially challanged! so, i want one boat that will allow me to progress as a sailor... starting out as a rec. beginner and then into racing once im confident and can afford to buy up graded racing parts.....

im in asheville, north carolina..... boat is in atlanta

We bought a 1986 16' Hobie Cat in the middle of August last year for $900 in pretty good condition and with trailer. It also came with a lot of extras including a sail box on the trailer and cat trax. $2000 seems very expensive unless it is in mint condition, then maybe.

Seems very pricey to me. Bought my '83 for $1100 and it is in fine shape. Very solid hulls. No repairs. Sails in good shape. And with an all aluminum Trailex trailer. Look around a bit more and I bet you will be able to save about $1000 on that price and get a nice Hobie to boot. Try Craigslist for your area or all the newspaper classified websites in your area. Or find a dealer and ask around. Seems like someone always knows someone else that is selling a Hobie. Good luck!

You gonna drop that H16 into Lake Julian?

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Trey Brown
www.velocitysailing.com
2006 N20 1017
1998 H16 102698
www.sunjammers.com ftw!

Welcome jwest. I was also new to Hobies until last Summer. I then bought a strong lightly used as well as neglected 1981 H16 for $500. My wife actually found it while I was planning to buy Prindle 16. Of course I went for the Hobie. As these guys are saying, unless your intended boat is cherry thats a little high. I replaced all standing and running rigging, trailer wheels/tires, trampoline, plus some extra goodies and hit the water for about $1200-$1400. I have also bought more goodies this winter. Oh yeah, as I told my wife (And how she found our boat) HIGH GRASS IS SOMETIMES A "FOR SALE" SIGN. So start peering in back yards as you drive around. Here is our 1981 H16. The sails ARE original AND crisp! Good luck in your quest...Listen to these guys they sure helped me!

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1981 H16.
1993 Macgregor 26S

Last summer (Aug. '07) I purchased a '79 H16 w/trailer for $700. I had to put new tires on the trailer and had new bearings installed too. Sails are just fair and tramp is in poor condition. I will replace the tramp this spring and will replace some of the lines. I bought the boat knowing nothing about delaminating hulls or (hobies for that matter). I've had to repair those and will be painting them soon. I will double my investment but should have a stable boat I can use for a few years. $2k is not a lot if the boat is in very good condition and you don't have to invest more. Parts are expensive so it pays to know what you are buying before laying down your $.

I bought my 82 with trailer for under a grand. It needed a new tramp and some new rigging.. but hulls are good, original non comp-tip mast... all in all, a great buy, minimal expenses to get it going and upkeep is almost nothing.

pic

We live way up north. I looked for 7 years for a hobie. I had to pay $2250 for a half recked boat. I've put almost $1500 into it and as soon as the ICE is off the water I'll be on it!

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I wish winter was not so long in Sask. Canada. It's hard to sail on ice! 1984 16' hobie cat Sail# 84848

I bought an '82 Hobie 16 eight years ago for $900 with trailer. I bought an '82 Prindle 18 three years ago for $350 with trailer. I just got another '82 Hobie 16 for $100 and an '84 for free (no trailers but both with cat trax). All but the Prindle had solid decks. Most of the Hobies needed keel work. Not to diminish the value of these boats but sales peaked in the early 80's and there are apparently a lot of guys in their seventies playing golf now with these cats rotting away in their back yards. I would hold out for a better price. Waiting for an '84 or '85 seems kind of pointless since the boats are built fairly well and two or three years won't make much of a difference. Earlier boats have all aluminum masts which is good. Later boats have the adjustable rudders which is also good. For $2000 I would expect all new standing rigging, tramp and pristine sails.

As other's have said, that seems really expensive. I just bought an '81 H16 in average shape for $750 with trailer. I had to dump another $400 or so into her to make her sailable, and splurged on a few luxuries beyond even that. I suspect over the winter I'll be doing a bottom job on her as well to the tune a few more hundred. I might consider a $2,000 boat if it were in pristine condition and the seller let me take her out for a day and if after doing that I was satisfied that that price included every last thing I needed or even wanted to sail her for at least a whole season.

On a related note: One thing that lots of folks seem to assume goes without saying -- no one warned me about it, but that I wish they had -- is this: make sure the titles are in order when you buy a boat/trailer. Where I grew up kids bought and sold Sunfishes, windsurfers and the occasional Hobie from each other on a handshake, and the boats just always lived on the beach anyway since most of us were too young to drive. When I bought my H16 a month or two ago, I was really laid back and so was the guy selling it to me and let's just say the titles were not in order (and still aren't.)

Now, in my state, a sailboat without a title is mostly fine. You can sail it all you want without a title, and when it comes time to sell it, if worse comes to worse, you can part it out. The big problem I'm dealing with is that it turns out that the guy who sold me the boat never actually got the trailer title transferred from the person <b>he</b> bought the boat from. So now I've got to track down this guy who sold this boat 12 years ago and see if I can talk him into signing the title over to me. Thank god I was able to get a permanent spot at the beach. I only had to "magically teleport" the boat once (on its trailer without a title and hence without a registration or license plate.)

I don't know yet the full extent of what getting these titles sorted out will cost, but I can already tell you it's been at least 8 hours of my time calling all over creation and dealing with the DMV, which, at least to me, is one of life's most unpleasant chores.

Good luck!

Depending on your state, you might not need a trailer title. In ohio I was able to get license plates with a weigh slip from the truck scales.

Hmmm, it appears this is an old thread, oh, well . . .

Last spring I bought a good-excellent '86 for $1K. Sails, hull, mast, boom, and trailer were excellent; tramp very good. While I didn't need them to sail, I still put a bunch of $ into upgrades- new standing rigging, lines, Harkens, Aussie halyard, hot stick, etc. I drove quite a distance to get it since I considered it a good deal. I wouldn't do it today due to gas prices.

Get a Hobie catalog so you know how much items like sails, tramp, rigging, etc. will cost to replace.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057