New Hulls for your Hobie 18

I'm sorry but if the hulls will be exact replicates of what I can find used for less than 1k I just cant justify the price. What advantage is there to the new ones, shiny gel coat? It will be 2010 when these will be delivered and they will offer the technology of 1994? What do Tiger hulls cost?

First of all, I'll agree with you...they'll cost a pretty penny. However, I'm thinking that I'd be getting two of the world's coolest 18 foot fiberglass kayaks...and as glass kayaks go, I bet these hulls then are reletively cheap. I'm also getting:

Solid glass bottom hulls, for reletively worry-free beaching (we often beach half a dozen times in a day)

Rolled hull lips for moderate dock piling protection & some spray protection

Ability to easily add wings easily rather than importing Tiger wings

Hulls with the build flaws of the past worked out & built right

Hobie resale

Hulls that haven't sat behind someone's house with water in them for the last decade...or two.

If you can find QUALITY Hobie 18 hulls for 1K, I'll take two sets.
I have three complete boats (with the exception of hulls) in my garage.
I'll be saving the best of what I do have for one of those sets of New Hulls.

GOOD, SOLID, LIGHT, QUALITY Hulls are getting harder and harder to find.

If you are happy sailing your 1K hulls, I am happy for you.

That having been said, there are people that cannot tell or do not care about the difference.
I understand that.

I cannot tell the difference between a $500 dollar laptop and a $2500 laptop, there are those that can tell the difference and are willing to spend the money for the performance
I cannot hear the difference between a $50 speaker and a $500 speaker .. but I know there are those that can hear the difference and do appreciate it.
Quite honestly, I can barely taste the difference between 2 buck chuck and a $25 bottle of wine, but there are those that really DO appreciate the difference.

There IS a difference between tired old hulls and New Hulls, and I can and do appreciate it, so I am delighted to have the choice of spending the money I save on computers, speakers and wine, and use that money to have a really nice Hobie 18. There are several others out there that feel the same way about the Hobie 18. Hopefully they will take advantage of this offer and show Hobie Cat that there is still a market out there for the Original Hobie 18.

You can buy one of the F-18 Platforms, brand new for a mere 20K, but for how many years will that boat be competetive at national levels ? You can buy a 3 year old F-18 Platform for less than half that. What will they be worth in 20 years with no fleet to race in ?
A couple of years ago Performance Catamaran came out with their FOURTH incarnation of the F-18. They call it the Infusion, the sailors call it the Confusion.
Just THIS year Hobie came out with the WIldcat which makes the Tiger essentially yesterdays news.
APHC is coming out with a new incarnation of the Capricorn soon, and the original Capricorn design just hit the US maybe what, 3 years ago?

Sometimes it is not so much a matter of How MUCH you spend as how LONG you will be able to play with the toys you have spent your money on.

I'll let Mr Miller answer the question as to the cost of a set of Tiger Hulls.

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Against my better judgement I'm jumping in on this. Steve, you gotta stop ripping on the F18 class. The Hobie F18's are the only ones that cost $20k, you can thank the exchange rate and the labor costs of building a boat in Europe for that. The Capricorn, and the Infusion are both around $16K new. I don’t know where Performance lays up its hulls, but AHPC is smart enough to have their glass work done in some 3rd world piss hole to keep the costs down. I want to say that Performance does their's in S. Africa? I think it’s great that you guys convinced the factory to do a short run for you. I’m glad to see they aren’t bending you over for them either. The extra 20% off parts is extremely gracious as well.

I've never heard anyone call the Infusion, the Confusion. I race against at least four of them on a pretty regular basis, it’s a pretty damn good design and can be pushed really hard.
The Tiger is still competitive. Throw a rockstar on it, they'll still do well, but the perception that it’s an out dated pile is good for new boat sales. New sails every few years because they’ve changed? How long do sails last anyway, My main is four years old, time for a new one, you can't expect Dacron to last any longer than that.

You know my stance on development, and this has obviously not affected the growth of the F18 class in negative way. Furthermore multiple manufacturers keeps this ball rolling. Sure, them thar fancy boats are scary, and complimicated, but keep things exciting and challenging.


How many years is a H16 competitive at a national level? Hmmm? Or an H18 for that matter? Three? Top guys are swapping boats, regardless of class, every few years for a new tight one. Well that’s not totally true, If you’re willing to spend $40k on a Marstrom Tornado, it’ll easily last an entire Olympic campaign where you sail 250 days a year. You know what this does? Adds used boats to the market, that lowers the price of those used boats making them more accessible to the guys getting into it. If someone is serious about this sport they’ll drop the coin on what it takes to be competitive. It’s the same story in EVERY single form of racing, no matter the medium on which it travels or the machine.

Point taken !

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Amazing - I just drove 3,600 km there and back to pick up a 1989 SX in Iowa, (thanks, Jim, it IS a good one), and now I find out about this deal.

Is this the opportunity to rebuild my 1987 SE?
Perhaps - HOWEVER, does Hobie have stock of cross bars?
The latest catalogue says Out of Stock.
Matt M, if you have a moment please, can you advise re status of cross bars?
Caleb, you got any?

If my Nov billings are good, I'm in for a set of new hulls and more.

BTW, just returned from a week on a Lagoon 440 in the BVI.
Simple to sail compared to a Hobie! We had a blast, what a beautiful spot.

Wish I could go to Havamega.

_________________
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.'

There is a limited availability of crossbars.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I'll just add that yes, I'm very interested - although the cost of shipping hulls to HI is a frightening thought.

Just get someone to throw them in one of those mega yachts that sails in the TransPac.

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Wow!! I just saw this thread. I'll hold off on my definite answer for now but I am very tempted, this will be the last chance to have a brand new set of hulls for my beauty. Mostly I guess I will have to find out how to get these down here to Central America in a not so expensive way. If my other NIB boat finds a new owner soon even if local I will definitely be in for it.

questions: Are the dealer markups negotiable with the dealer ?, will these shiny new hulls feature the latest graphics (Hobie diamond, stripes, and stern HOBIE 18 decals ?, along with the original metal fittings as came the hulls in new boats ?

I would not want to drill ANY holes in the new hulls.

YES we would be interested in hulls and dagger boards.
Would like to see the specifications and who/where they will be manufactured.
I will contact my local Hobie Rep. Backyard Boats and let Jay know my interest.

Anyone want to buy old 1989 Stars and Stripes Hulls? Also have the original sails 032

Keith Strasser

email sent

Count me in as extremely interested! posting.php?mode=reply&f=13&t=16341# I would like to know what shipping costs to Maryland will be before I write a deposit check, though.

We have not yet officially offered this, so hold your check for now.

Freight would be about $300 for 2 hulls to the east coast, US.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I was looking through the current Nacra full product line booklet and I found the answer. Well, it doesn't say WHERE, but it does say WHO, in the very next row after "fixed rudder system" in the spec table in the back of the booklet...it reads: "Foam sandwich fine Lester construction" . So, I take it to mean that a gentleman named Lester is doing fine construction on all their hulls...OR, in a more sinister twist, maybe Lester is sandwiched IN the hulls...

...couldn't be Foam sandwich vinylester construction...

And it looks like they squeezed all the costs out of the booklet, too!!!

Seriously, that is the funniest thing I've read in a brochure in a long time.