Plastic Hulls

Well, it looks like a recent thread raised some hackles regarding plastic vs. fiberglass hulls. As a wooden boat builder and enthusiast who is looking to buy a used Wave this Spring, it caught my attention. The durability of the rotomolded hulls wasn't entirely resolved. One writer wrote that, like most plastics, these hulls eventually become brittle and unusable. So, what IS the predicted longevity of these hulls? What is the durability of the original shiny, gel-coat-like finish? If it becomes dull, can it be restored? Thanks . . .

I have a used wave here, it is a 1999 boat, I rented until spring of 2005. We used a jeep to pull the boat around, about 100 yards each way. there are no signs of wear, other than an occasional scratch where it went over a large shell or something. I do not foresee the hulls ever turning brittle and cracking. lets take the plastic kayaks for example, go but a cheep 200 yak and its going to turn brittle and break in a few years. We just sold a 1999 Hobie kayak, never saw shade unless it was cloudy or night. It was just as strong as they day hobie shipped it! Buy the used wave, replace the rigging, take a good look at the tramp and that's about it! there are inspection port under the seat pads that tend to leak after a few years, no biggie, the pad is probably coming up, just take it off, cleans it, put some 5200 on the inspection port and re glue the seat pad down!

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Brad Stephens
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I saw a 1999 (?) Geataway that fell off of a trailer on the FWY a few years back. He strapped it down with only 2 straps, hit a bump and drug the boat until he pulled over. It buzzed the keels down a little bit, but he sailed that day after bringing it by the shop for inspection. That was when I was at O'neills, so about 6 years ago. I still see him sailing.

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Sail Revolution
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Just the thought of that was pretty funny, maybe if we give him enough sail he could sail it to the lake.

Having dealt with plastic, fiberglass, and wooden boats, I have to say there is nothing more beautiful than a well maintained wooden sail boat. In addition there is nothing easier to maintain than a plastic sailboat. fiberglass is a good comprimise. you can fairly easily repair it and you don't have to spend more time maintaing it than sailing it like a wooden boat.

I have had a non-Hobie plasic kayak for close to 7 years now. The quality is not a good as Hobies and it has never seen shade. There are no signs of it becoming brittle. It takes a severe beating that fiberglass or wood cannot handle.

If you are looking for a fun boat and want to spend as little time maintaining it as possible, go for the plastic boat.

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Thanks for the input. After reading Cyrano138's remarks about punching holes in sun-weakened plastic hulls in the "Bye, Bye Hobie 17" thread and Buzzman2's disparaging remarks in the "Which Hobie, or Other" thread, I thought I'd ask.

i just don't like what it represents. even if hobie did manage to find some miraculous polymer that was not susceptible to uv damage, it's still a disposable boat. in other words, they might be harder to damage or break, but it is certainly possible, and if you do, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO FIX IT. you must buy new hulls. some people might be okay with that; i'm not.

also, you might consider going to people who aren't, by their own admission, hobie enthusiasts, to get a more balanced assessment of the subject.

maybe if you decide you still want to take a chance, your local hobie dealer would be willing to offer you some kind of guarantee against uv damage within a certain number of years. maybe i'm nuts, but that's the only way i could ever be talked into buying one after seeing the way our beach kayaks disintegrated.

Sounds like some people don't like change!

I'm not old enough to remember but I'd imagine the same sort of debate raged around when fibreglass boats came out and most people prefered to stay with the wooden boats.

More and more things tend to be going away from the craftmanship /expert fixable (wooden boats) to the home handyman fixable (fibreglass boats) to the disposable (plastic boats) in just about any sort of industry. You only get the "real thing" if you've got loads of money. But for most people, the disposable thing is all they want. Sad really but that the way things are.

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Anthony
88 H16 "Moonshine"

i can't say too much about sailing history, but i know enough about the history of surfboard design to offer a little insight since Hobie Alter was, first and foremost, a surfer. it seems like too much of a coincidence that the fiberglass polyurethane sandwich also happened to constitute a major shift in surfboard design, but, admittedly, i'm speculating that his motivations for choosing this construction for his catamarans were similar.

the main cause for changing from wood surfboards is simply that, when damaged, they require immediate, and rigorous attention. the old varnished redwood boards and the later fiberglass-coated balsa boards soaked up water like a sponge if you lost them on the rocks or had and unfortunate collision with a reef, and meant long hours in the shop to prevent unfixable water damage. fiberglass foam boards could be built strong, but fixed without too much trouble.

the secondary reason was that they were lighter and more manueverable,

and lastly, they were less expensive to produce after good balsa blanks were becoming more expensive.

i'm sure all of these reasons figured into hobie's decisions.

i don't think plastic boats represent a major improvement in any of these matters. this may be debatable, i admit. But, even so, the advantages are marginal at best, and we're still left with the fact that, if damaged, your boat is scrap.

i'm glad we don't have to sail wood catamarans anymore. the materials we use now are lighter, stronger, and easier to maintain, but maintenance is the operative term, here.

like i said, if any of your dealers will offer a guarantee against uv damage over a certain period, it's a different ballgame. after all, if you can guarantee that the sun won't break down the plastic, and given how tough it is to hurt it by conventional methods, you've got the potential for a very long-lived boat. but i, for one, won't believe it until someone's willing to put their money where their mouth is.

i feel like i should close by saying that i love my 82 hobie16, and i wouldn't change a thing about it.

What duration warranty period would you like to see for plastic boats?

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This is just one of those things that only time will tell. I have an 67 Hobie 14 that was converted to turbo. When those boats are 40 years old and still sailing I will be impressed by them!

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

i don't know how much they cost, compared to a fiberglass boat, so it's hard to say. my girlfriend was saying the other day, though, how she was bummed because she couldn't ever own a boat since she's not strong enough to move one around, and i started thinking that i might someday have to look at plastic boats because those are the only ones she could handle.

it's still a tough question, but just for the sake of discussion, since they are virtually maintenance-free, hobie should offer a 10-20 year guarantee against the same things that plague fiberglass hulls: cracks around the rudder gudgeons and pylons (including wing sockets if you have them), bottom wear from beaching, and softness, brittleness, or any damage not encountered during normal use. how to distinguish between a hole or crack caused by uv damage as opposed to a collision with captain nemo's nautilus? i'm not sure.

if ten to twenty years seems like a lot, remember that a well-maintained fiberglass hull frequently lasts that long, and sometimes much, much longer. honestly, you could probably expect ten years out of a poorly maintained fiberglass hull, so i think that's a fair minimum, unless plastic hulls are MUCH cheaper, like 50% cheaper.

...

I know there are lots of 16's and 14 that old still sailing but I want to see the plastic boats in 40 years.

The 14 is #242, from what people say that makes it a 67.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!

Hey Cyrano,

My girlfriend has basically taken my 14 from me. We both go out and she solo's the 14 while I sail the Nacra.

If your g/f is looking for a boat you might look into the 14. My g/f can step the mast and move it around okay by herself which is impressive because she is only 105 and 5'4.

Other than the 14 you are right that the plastic boats are the only option.

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Nacra 5.2 "Elsies"
Hobie 14T, "Blazin" I guess I am keeping her!