Why did Hobie discontinue the shroud anchor plates?

We've all got boats with beams starting to rip off that need reinforcing and murrays/the internet is totally sold out. There are a few garage made versions that are available on ebay but look kinda crappy. I could probably make a decent replica myself but the idea doesn't excite me as I hate spending all my time sharpening drill bits after working stainless.

Why can't they just have the same machine shop just spit out another batch? I have one boat that I borrowed a few plates from to complete my main boat and now I need original Hobie ones so that the plate lines up on the holes in the hulls or my backup boat is gonna get swiss cheesed with a different plate with slightly different hole centers.

Fab shops have minimum runs. The fix was introduced roughly 35 years ago. The rationale, I can only assume, is that all boats that were going to be fixed have been fixed by now. Does not make sense for Hobie to fork out the cash needed for another batch of 50-100 parts to then sell a handfull and have the rest sit on a shelf somewhere collecting dust for the next 35 years. It is a stamped/formed part. I also wouldn’t be surprised in the least if the tooling to make the part has been scrapped which would increase part cost further if new tooling is needed to do another run.

If you’re concerned about the hull integrity, my recommendation would be to add reinforcing glass or carbon plys to the inside of the hull to connect the deck to the hull.

sm

Already did that. This was for the rear beam. I took the front plates off my other boat and used them on my prime boat. Then I went inside to order more plates so I could add them back to the front of my other boat only to find they are sold out lol.

Well hopefully they realize they are still needed and get something made. A shop could plasma cut out these things without having to stamp the shape. Send it through a brake twice and drill some holes. No need for new tooling.

Yes, the part is now discontinued. The Hobie 18 has not been in production for a very long time. At some point there is no further support due to costs and minimum runs of a part that no longer make sense.

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

Sadly, one of the reasons my SX18 is on the market. I'll miss her.

Moving up to a 2016 H16, so I can practice for November.

_________________
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.'

can someone get me accurate pics and dimensions? better yet, if someone would send me one to reverse engineer,( of course I would send it back, give me a few days with it) i could make some. Maybe Matt has a print? I know print is probably "Proprietary info".

You can still get those parts in Australia. I just purchased a set for my 18.
Steve
Is this the part?

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84 Turbo

There is still significant demand for the parts and we're trying to get someone to make them. The part has a strange collection of bends, which makes it difficult to produce.

anyone know how thick(guage) material and what kind of stainless we talking about here?

0.075” thick. I’d expect that it’s a 300 series stainless. My guess would be either 301, 304, or 316.

sm

Hi Matt,

Would Hobie be willing to share the prints and BOM for this part?
Discontinued stuff, after all...

I noticed today that my '83 hulls have the kits one them. what is weird though is, my 78 hulls have a smaller steel reinforcement. pics tomorrow. At least now i can measure and look into making sets.

There were mini plates that looked like washers welded to the original channel fittings on some of the early boats.

i keep forgetting to take pics