Hull Stiffness

I'm looking at buying one of two 1984 Hobie 16's for sale near where I live for cheap, but I had a question about the stiffness of the hulls. One of the hulls is yellow and is in good shape, and the other is white but has some give in the hulls (maybe 9 inches before the opposite hull lifts up). I prefer the look of the white hull better than the yellow hull, but I was wondering if the stiffness could be improved by simply tightening up the trampoline? And how much can I expect it to improve without taking the frame apart and epoxying it? Or, would I be better off buying the yellow hull which has very little give between the hulls?

The trampolines on both hulls are in good shape and seemed tight, but any advice would be great!

You'll find very little improvement in the bow to bow measurement by tightening the tramp.
All that wear is in the corner castings, and you're correct the best remedy is epoxying the frame, and that's not a truly permanent fix.
You're lucky to find an '84 with little use. In the long run you'll be much happier with the "banana" yellow boat, and it should last longer.
You may ask the yellow boat owner if the frame has been glued?

The other easy signs of which boat has less overall use is at the wear points
1. Bottom of hulls
2. Mast base
3. Rudder castings, where the upper and lower touch when raising and lowering the rudders

Check to see if the rudder cams have been replaced, rivets?/original screws?/replaced

You'd be surprised how many boats were purchased, sailed very few times and then put in storage.

_________________
1984 H16 "Mister Rogers"
1984 H14 "Sundays"
2000 H20 "Jet"
Sheet In, Max Out

The yellow hull wins in each of those categories. It's in pretty good shape except it has a small sing in the gel coat along the leading edge of the left hull. It just needs a good wash and compounding. Still not a big fan of the color, but it' sounds like the better deal and it's a good price. Thanks for the advice.