Lone Palm wrote: Thanks for the reply, I have found these but was also wondering about the possible solutions for the crush zones at the rear hull botoms where the rollers contact the hulls.
You should check the Hobie Hotline archives "This Old Hobie" articles for instructions on doing fiberglass repairs. One thing to consider is that you could install a porthole behind the rear crossbar. This would give you access to fix the crushed hull from inside and would also allow you to install the upgraded crossbar anchor plates at the rear crossbar. A lot of people do this on older boats to make the hulls even stronger.
Quote: I understand the procedures for installing the reinforcement kit along with the patching at the front crossbar. I read in another post, through the search feature, that Hobie began to patch these hulls beginning in 1987.....Was wondering if this HIN had the patching or not since it is a 1987 model.
Rather than trying to determine if your hulls have the reinforcement patch based on serial number, do something much easier - just look in the hull. If the hulls have the reinforcement patch, there will be a heavy piece of fiberglass, about 5" wide, laminated to the inside of each hull at the inboard and outboard front crossbar anchor points.
Quote: Will this boat be safe without these mods for the above mentioned family just cruising or is it only needed for racing, or needed in all circumstances?
Impossible to say other than the boat has lasted for the past 25 years without issue, so likely it is ok. What I would highly suggest you do is to look under the hull lip at all four front crossbar anchor points and look for cracks. If there is cracking that is more severe than simple hairline crack in the gelcoat, then you absolutely need to repair and reinforce these areas of the hull. In any case, there is no good reason not to do these upgrades. They are easy, cheap, and make the hulls a heck of a lot stronger.
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