T2 discontinued in Europe now too???

Hello fellow T2 skippers, haven't seen much activity lately. Anyone getting out on the water? Anyway, I noticed today that the T2 is now listed as a discontinued boat on the EU website as well. Is the boat now ancient history? Will Hobie still support us with parts? Any thoughts on what went wrong? I had heard that the Tatoo was a popular model over there.

Hello Mistro,

It has been slow on here. I finally got out this Saturday and had a blast, we finely had a day without rain and cold temps but we did have wind so it was a good time.
I think the biggest problem was it's so close to the Getaway that the larger market went for that. You can get wings and it has the front netting tramp. Hobie also advertised the T2 more as a training boat, good for learning to sail and good for school fleets.
I don't think Gord actually called Hobie about a front crossbar because I have needed a couple of parts for mine and Hobie has taken good care of me. When they took a mast bottom off the assembly line for me, I think she said they had parts to assembly 17 more at the time. Not sure if they finished them or not, hopefully they stocked the parts for us. It was listed as special order last time I heard something and I've thought of buying another hull and just putting it in the garage just in case they become obsolete, I do plan to keep this boat for as long as possible.

With all that said, I have finished converting mine to the H16 main and jib and it's the best boat Hobie never made. After getting my head straight and thinking about it, I made a gennaker style pole to move the forestay forward about 12in to fit the jib, it came out great. That way I kept the original mounting for the bridle wires.
My H18 racing friend has been crunching numbers and texting me. With 46 more sq feet, that's 26.16% more sail area, better than 25% increase in HP. Now my power to weight ratio is basically the same as the H18. T16 is .561, the H18 is .564
I had two minor problems with main and jib halyards that kept me from getting my sails tighten properly, I forgot my cable cutter and couldn't shorten them at the lake, I sailed anyway, so I never got full power out of it but I like it better than any of my other boats already. Bigger than my Bravo and 14T, more buoyant then my 16's and faster than my Getaway. I'll post some photos and videos as I get them.

Buxton

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Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning

With the modern look update to the Getaway... the T2 was not selling well. Not sure the status in Europe, but we quit making them here.

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

Buxton I am interested in how you rigged your boat for the H16 sails. If there are no drastic changes it might be fun to have a H16 main for a light wind day.

We're suppose to have an really good weekend and I'll get better photos but this is a quick clip I took Saturday. I fabricated a mount and riveted it to the front crossbar to hold a 1.5in aluminum poll. I made up 2 different sets of bridle wires and brackets to support the other end. My boat came with a second forestay/jib halyard like the 16's that I shortened to fit. (One of my hold backs from last Saturday.) You don't have to swap the mast but last year I found with the sail feed slot up so high on the T2, the bolt rope would bind up when pulling the down hall and it had to be feed back into the slot going down and that took a second person. I had a 16 mast and put a Getaway base on it, problem solved. Here's a photo of the difference between the two sail plans. I figure I can also make a mount on the pole to match the T2 furling jib so I can swap back if I want to.

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Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning

How did it sail with the H16 main and the T2 jib? For the main, I would just need a H16 sail and boom and no other mods to the boat? I am not sure I understand the issue with the down haul.

It definitely had more power with just the main and would be OK. The thing for me is that the T2 jib is so small, in my opinion, that it's only good for tacking, no real pull or power out of it.

This photo shows the H16 down hauled, you can see where the bolt rope ends. On the T2 mast the cutout is so much higher, you have to feed the rope into the down slot to pull it tight or it goes half in/half out and you can't pull it down without someone to feed it while you pull.


I had one of the best weekends of sailing in 3 years, this boat is incredible and will take me a couple of weekends to get the handling down right. I still don't know how high I can go before I tip it over. Now, I don't go to races but the speed I was running is real close to the fastest boats on the lake, I just wanted more lift to fly a high hull and I sure have that. This should be a great summer for me.

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Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET THAT FRONT SPREADER BAR FOR THE T2? Or is it something that can be fixed ?

Support pages: https://www.hobie.com/support/t2/

Parts can be ordered from France. Contact a dealer.

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