It will be interesting to know how Hobie handles the hull-design after 2024...

On the other hand: there's a ton of used Tiger 18s out there; they are a more stable construction and available from 3500 and up ... but they ain't our beloved HC18s.

I believe the hulls are well out of patent at this point, as my understanding is that a US patent only allows exclusivity for 20 years from the date the patent is awarded, and cannot be renewed. However, I think that's the least of the concerns with regard to producing replacement hulls. It seems that the cost to build a mold and produce hulls in a large enough quantity to be cost effective, while maintaining a decent build quality and consistency would be extremely challenging for anyone not in boat production full time. In short, if anyone could make it work and make it cost effective, you'd think it would be Hobie, who is already producing catamarans on a regular basis. Coupled with a nearly non-existent market for replacement hulls (at least at the price they would have to be), I don't think it would be a successful venture. I think if Hobie offered complete boats again, rather than just replacement hulls, they would be considerably more successful, but I'm not sure if it would be enough to reinvigorate the fleet. I hate to be the nay-sayer, because I'd love to see someone bring back these boats, but unfortunately I think that's where it sits. I wonder if Hobie has even bothered to keep the original molds for the hulls.

There aren't nearly as many Hobie Tigers available in the US market as there are in Europe, so that's less of an option here, and as I understand it, the Tiger is a very different boat. Parts are harder to come by and more expensive, and the boat handles much differently. There are a fair number of used H18's out there in the US, but the number of boats in good condition seems to be quickly dwindling. I'll certainly preserve my boat as long as I can, because I don't think there's another Catamaran out there that offers nearly as much as the H18.

that exercise was not successful. We will not do it again. The cost is just too high to fix up an old rig. Better off buying a current production model of some kind. If we started building 18s again... just a guess, but if we did some volume in sales / production they would be $18,000 or so. We don't have that volume is sales to even order the aluminum and special parts at this point.