Buying a Hobie for Family use on ATL Ocean- any thoughts??

I live JAX Beach in FL on the Atlantic Ocean .
We usually have 2-4 seas.
We will launch from the beach.

I am a causal sailer not a racer and I want to take my small kids out every now and then.

I am looking at a H17.

Somebody suggested that the boom was too low for kids.

Any thoughts on what boat or characteristics like lenght, tramp height, make/ model/ style/ sail setup would be most useful for beach, waves and kids?

Thanks so much for your time and thoughts.

MDH

Spend the money on a Getaway. The kids will love the wings and tramp up front, plus, its not that slow of a boat and its tough as nails AND seems to hold its value pretty well AND its easy as shi# to sail.
17 is nice too, but too many people on it make it tough to manuver.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I am partnering with 2 others that are fairly experienced with cats and i am a little concerned that this boat seems a little too basic for them.

I looked at the getaway and it does not have a boom and it sits fairly low to the water. I will look at it closer but i am concerned my buddies will want a little more zip.

They are not slow by any means but given your partners, you may even try to find a good Hobie 18 with wings then. Its plenty fast and you can put a bunch of people on it without sinking it.

any opinion on the H17?

I have one and love it, but I think everyone here would agree that it is a ONE person boat in almost all conditions.

The Hobie 17 is ideally suited as a solo boat. They can handle two adults, but you're better off with one of the models that was designed specifically for two people. If you're just taking out one kid, you'd probably be OK on the 17. But on the SE model, the boom is really low and there's no jib for the crew to work, so unless they're happy just going along for the ride, they could get bored. The 17 Sport corrects those issues, but it still sits low in the water with 2+ adults on board. There simply is not a lot of extra flotation in the hulls.

You pretty much can't go wrong with a 16 or an 18 (16 is two adults max in anything over a light breeze, the 18 can handle up to 3 adults even in strong breeze). They're both proven to be tough, fast, and fun.

The Getaway is geared towards slightly lower performance but you get a very simple, user friendly platform with lots of space and flotation.

sm

SRM has good advice. I have a H17Sport and mostly solo, while it will handle 2, it is really ment for one. Don't blow the Getaway off. Though not a race horse, it has several advantages, especially for family sailing (heck that is what it was made for). Large floaty hulls, lots of space, wings, boomless, no center/dagger boards, hull wells, simple to rig and sail.

Had two H17s and a Getaway. The 17s were faster, but not by a lot. The Getaway is fast, fun, easy to sail, easy to set up and very beach tough. I dragged my Getaway all over the beach without harming the hulls. The biggest advantage over the H17 is it's versatility. You can go solo and sail it as hard as you want, then land on the beach and go back out with 6 on the boat. That won't happen on a 17. They are both good boats, but I think the Getaway gives you more options.

All good advice, and I'll add another aspect - the 17 can be a b*tch in the surf with an onshore wind. They're just hard to control with the boards and rudders up, trying to get over breaking waves without getting sideways.

Great stuff. This is all very helpful. If others have opinions please keep them coming. I imagine this info would be very useful to a lot of newbies who are looking to buy their first beach cat.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Mike from Jax

One issue casual sailors have with sailboats is the perceived and real complexity of rigging a boat, and the time it takes to get on the water detracts from enjoying it. Hobie has done much with the Getaway to make rigging as painless as possible while still having lots of fun sailing.

Mike:
When I was looking to buy a Hobie Cat ( I was thinking either a H18 or a getaway) the dealer convinced me to take a closer look at the Hobie Tandem Island (TI). Though it doesn't have the speed of a hobie cat, it is a very versatile boat and very easy to launch from the beach. The Mirage pedal drives really make a difference. I have the trampolines on mine and have been out many times with two adults and two children. Better yet the boat can be used for other things like Kayaking through mangroves, rivers and back waters (very shallow draft), where you can take the boat pretty much anywhere, we even scuba dive from ours. We car top ours and take it everywhere, its very fast to setup and take down. We are not afraid to take our TI out at sunset (when the wind dies), if the wind dies we just pedal home. Though the TI is longer and wider than all the other Hobie cats, it's very light weight and is easily and quickly broken down for transport and setup, and if you look at some of the Youtube videos the TI handles open seas pretty well (thats where I am pretty much every weekend on the FL west coast and Key West). Plus It's a Hobie so you get all the great support all Hobie owners enjoy. I'm just conveying what worked out very well for me and my families circumstances, and am very happy with our decision to go with the TI vs the Getaway, of course everyones needs are unique. Another factor for me was I was able to afford the TI (around $5k) without having to share ownership with partners. I normally wouldn't have responded to this thread but, " for family use, and ATL beach launch" kind of made me want to share what has worked well for us and our circumstances.
Bob

Mike from Jax - You're not going to find the "perfect" boat. There is no such thing. You and your friends will have to make some compromises.
You and your family; small kids; more experienced adults; safe but fast.......
I think you should rule out the 17.
The 16, 18 and Getaway would all work. The Getaway isn't that slow. We rented one while on a vacation in the Fla. Keys several years ago.
It would be best if you and your friends could test-drive several models to help you decide which would be best. Price would also factor into your decision.
Whatever you decide, you're not going to make a bad choice. 16, 18, Getaway....they're all good choices!
Good luck!
Richard

thanks alot everyone. the more the better!!!!