Which Hobie Cat do I have?

I just got a Hobie Cat today and I'm super excited to use it, but I couldn't find any identifying markers on it to tell me what model and year it is. I'm also very new to sailing—this is my first boat. I'm thinking it's a late '70s model. It has the serial code IL 8448 JT on the side. Any help?

Secondly, I might also be in the market for some sails. Any good ideas where to get them at a very affordable price? Ebay seems spotty. I don't mind used and I don't need racing sails, just something to learn on. Thanks!


Hobie Cat catamaran by crbowling, on Flickr

Looks like a normal 16 to me. I'm not familiar with the decals of earlier ones, but what is the small character after "HOBIE CAT" on the hulls?

Matt Miller will know for sure. He's bound to come along eventually.

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'97 Hobie 16.

Skype: rob_arnolda

I feel like this could also be a hobie 14, I used to have one until I moved up to the 16 and these hulls just seem to thin on top to be a 16 but I could be wrong. I can't tell too well from just this one picture.

If I had to guess, I would say 14 also. It seems a tad bit shorter than a 16. Get out a tape measure and check. The 14 is 14' I believe and the 16 is 16'7".

I'm digging the yellow hulls! It looks like you have the same decal on the hulls as me.

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Zach

crbowling,

My bet... that's a 16. '84 H14t I recently sold had the chain plate for the shrouds attached to the sidebar where as the H16 has the shrouds attached to a twist toggle and pin under the lip of the hull as shown in your picture. Real proof though would be to measure the length of the hulls as I am unaware of possible different configurations on earlier years.

Either way, enjoy!

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'95 H16 sail #101148
'89 H18 SX/ sail #1053 w/ Yellow hulls

Definitely a 16. The give-away is the shroud attachment to the hull (14s attach to the sidebar).

The "Hobie Cat" lettering is the style used from introduction (1970) through 1983.

The numbers you are referring to are an Illinois registration number, not a serial number.

If it's a 1970 - 1972 boat, the serial number is a four-digit number stamped on the outside of the front pylon, just above the hull.

For 1973 onward, the serial number will be found engraved on the transom, either just under the deck lip, or behind the rudder pin. The last two digits will be the model year.

However, I can almost guarantee that boat's been painted, unless it's been kept in a barn for 35+ years. Yellow boats fade, and that boat's just too bright. In that case, the HIN may have been sanded off or filled in with paint - and very hard (or impossible) to read.

Thanks for the info guys. I measured the hulls and they're almost exactly 16 feet. And the mast is 25 feet. I thought that might be a registration number and not serial, so that makes sense. I've looked all over and can't find any other markings, so I'm guessing too that it was painted at some point. And the decal behind the HOBIE CAT is just the registered trademark insignia.

Thanks!

If you can see the S/N on the transoms then you can follow this key (which Matt posted here a while ago) and it will help you learn more about your boat's production run.

Hulls - What year / model year is my Hobie?

CCML1944A888 ( CCM L 1944 A 8 88 )
CCM - Coast Catamaran Manufacturer
L - The letter in that position "L" stands for the model of boat/kayak. Each boat model (H16, H17, H18 etc.) starts out with a different letter. If more than 9,999 of that model were built in one year, there would be multiple letters for a single model. In example, there were so many Hobie 16's built in some years that the model letters include CCMB, D, E, F, L, O, P R and S (also due to several other factors). The letter must change if we build more than 9,999 in one year.
1944 - Serial number sequence number
A - "A" is the month for January, "B" February and so on.
8 - year which was built in 1988
88- Your boat is a 1988 model year. Model years are like cars. The new year starts in September.
If the last of the sequence read I889, The boat would have been built in September of 1988 as a 1989 Model Year boat.

Hope it helps!

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

Unfortunately, that is not quite the version they will find on that boat, provided it's older than 1984 (which it looks like).

The last four characters would be in the format of "M##X", where "##" is the model year and "X" is the production month (as above).

I looked at a very cheap Hobie/trailer combo today, as a potential upgrades trailer and spare parts for my H16. It ended up being a H14 (1984). The side shrouds attached to the tramp side, not the hull itself. Is this an easy way to tell a H16 vs a H14?

BTW, I didn't buy it, as it the trailer was rougher than I was hoping.

Yes.

An '84 14? Where was it and what shape was it in?

The H14 is in Sullivan Missouri. $125 for the boat, mast and trailer. No sails/boom, tramp needs replacement. No titles. I was really looking at the trailer, thinking the photos looked like an aluminum version, whereas I have steel. Their trailer is steel and needs tires (4-lug) and paint, so I wasn't too interested.

If the boat were a 16, I may have bought the whole outfit for parts/giving away/resale (at that price, it would have been good just to get the parts back in circulation). As for the boat, I didn't know it was a 14 until I got there. Hulls are filthy - a good 1/4 inch of crud on them. They said the boat hasn't moved for ~6 years.

With the boat being the wrong size to interest me, and the trailer being worse than my current one, I didn't pay too much attention to the hulls. I did check the starboard hull just in front of the pylon, and it was solid. I cannot vouch for the rest of the hulls.

Check out Craigslist, posting 2505241104 (listed as St. Louis).

If anyone is interested, be prepared for a nice drive in the country. Sullivan MO isn't exactly a metropolitan area, and the boat is about 22 miles south of Sullivan.

Why the interest? Is that a red line boat?

Come to think of it, that was the port hull I checked, not the starboard.

Could be. It's an early '84, probably made in late '83.

(The adjustable rudder castings, the type of bolt used in them and hull graphics allow it to be dated pretty precisely without seeing the HIN.)

If it is, and the hulls are solid, then it's a true diamond in the rough.

Rough, I can vouch for...diamond, I'll let someone else score that one. It would be a good project for someone. I'm just finishing my current H16 project and the timing isn't right for a new project.

Hope someone can bring this one back from the edge!

Sorry to sidetrack this discussion!