question about a 2001 Hobie 18 with wings

2001 Hobie 18sx with wings,
I am close to buying the hobie 18 I have wanted for years, can anyone tell me are the parts tough to find because of the boat being discontinued.


Marty in Sask

PARTS - Hobie Corp has been very thoughtful in trying to make many parts common across the entire product range. Rudders are a good example.

The only H18 specific items that you may need are hulls, daggerboards, cross bars, tramps, rudder castings/tubing, masts/booms and sails. Sails, tramps and rudder stuff are still available, and as far as I know, there is only one set of hulls available.....and not from Hobie.

For the other stuff you'll need to check if your dealer has some stock, or look on the For Sale section of the Forum, or on CatSailor or on CraigsList. Around 18,000 H18's were made, so there are plenty of parts out there. With some care, ingenuity and shopping around, you'll have many years of happy sailing ahead of you.

Email me off line at lunnjohn at magma dot ca if you have specific concerns....if you don't already know, you'll soon find out that the Hobie World is full of great people, and lots of them know where to get stuff.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Absoutely NO issues with a standard Hobie 18 from a support perspective.

However the SX version is somewhat a rare breed, as you may know.

So:
- used sails in decent condition are almost nil, but ton's of standard H18 sails, which are too short for your boat
- you can't use standard Hobie 18 standing rigging
- you can't use standard Hobie 18 mast

- So know going in that if you need replacement sails, your choices are (very) limited.
- Likewise, if you bust a comptip on your SX... it's $800 for a replacement. Otherwise it's fairly easy to find an entire Hobie 18 mast (w/comptip) for about $200-$250.
- Finally, if you want to race in formally organized Hobie events, there's no "race" for SX boat, so you'll need to beg/borrow standard Hobie 18 sails and mast and rigging from someone....

Otherwise, it's a cool boat! Mine's a 1992, good to go.
[img]http://jacoulterphoto.photoshelter.com/img/pixel.gif[/img]

I'm pretty sure the comptip is the same for the Standard and SX. The aluminum extrusions are different lengths.

I just snatched up a 1999 H18SX in July. I love it, the dealers have had everything that I've needed. As far as sails go I'm not sure if hobie still makes SX sails, but there are plenty of places you can get aftermarket sails. Class racing isn't really an option for the 18SX, so aftermarket sails aren't as big of a deal.

Does anyone know if a standard 18 jib will fit on an 18SX?

If it looks like a good boat for a good price I'd pick it up, a 2001 is a rare boat.

yes, comptips are the same size, but good luck finding a used comptip in good shape.... otherwise you buy a whole standard 18 mast, remove the comptip and put on the SX... or get a new comptip for that $800....

the jibs are also different sizes, SX is a little taller... you MIGHT be able to put a SX job on a standard, but the head of the sail would be RIGHT UP against the mast...

look at a pic of a standard 18 and see how the head of the jib is a ways out from the mast for airflow, etc.... so IF you put an SX jib on a standard... it MIGHT fit tightly, but the head would be right up on the mast....

regardless, great boat, great configuration, just know you lose some interchange-ability with other 18s.