weight of H18 hull

Greetings gang.
Anyone know the dry weight of 1 'naked' Hobie 18 hull... if it was hanging on a scale, just one hull, no more? Somewhere around 110-125lbs ?

Thanks

That seems about right. There was a lot of weight variation over the years due to changes in the manufacturing process. I weighed my redline hulls (which were supposedly some of the lightest generation manufactured) a few years ago and they came in around 110-115lbs if I recall.

sm

I searched couldn't find anything so when I took mine apart I weighted them
here
https://www.thebeachcats.com/forums/vie ... opic/18045

I've searched for what Hobie 18 Hulls should weigh couldn't find anything. So this winter while I had mine taken apart to wet sand a buff I weighed them. I was somewhat shocked by the range of weight. The lightest hull was 126lb 6oz the heaviest was 136lb 12oz and those 2 hulls were on the same boat ! The other hulls were 134lbs 8 oz and 132lbs even. All weights still had port hatches, bow tangs, rudder gudgeons, drain plugs, shroud pins and trap shock cords left in the hulls.

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H14
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H18
H18

It’s all process driven. If the hulls were built using prepreg glass autoclave cured, they would have a much tighter weight tolerance (and much higher cost). But they’re not. They’re built by laying dry fabric into the mold and then manually wetting out with resin, so the resin content can vary significantly, and that will directly affect the final weight.

sm

mine are 1980 and 1981 think that was some of the heavier years

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Seems like that's in the right ballpark for a typical hull weight, though it seems a little heavier than I'd expect for a redline. I weighed my 1978 hulls a few years ago when I had them apart for deck seam repairs, and I seem to recall one being around 115 lbs and the other around 120 lbs.

I thought I had read a post from someone on here years ago claiming their redline hulls weighed in around 94-96 lbs.

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Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238

Ok this makes me nervous and confused,

I have a newly acquired 1981 18' in pretty good shape, I think. A few soft spots I can handle thanks to all the info for delam repairs, but my boat just seemed heavier than expected when I picked it up. Weighed it with just the tramp and frame, WOW that was heavy. Stripped everything off except for the bow tangs and rudder gudgeons, just bare hulls now.

Starboard hull - 175 lbs
Port hull - 155.9 lbs

I know the early '80 years were heavier but "HOLY MOLY Batman", that's a lot more. Is that in a normal range for that year or what?
Any thoughts or info would be helpful, before I put helium balloons in there to help.

Thanks

Open the port holes and use some fans to circulate air through the hulls to dry them out. That’s about all you can do. Definitely sounds a bit heavy.

That said, if you aren’t racing, just sail it and forget abiut the weight.

sm

Thats after drying for 2 weeks. Maybe they will be stronger.

Thanks for the response.

I'd say it's possible that either your hulls have absorbed water (bare polyester resin can do that, i.e. if you leave water in the hulls for a long time, or if you have a lot of gel coat missing and leave the boat in the water), or your foam floatation may have absorbed water. 150 - 175 lbs definitely seems much heavier than those hulls ought to be. Mine are of similar vintage and aren't more than 125 lbs each.

If you add hull ports aft of the rear crossbar, you can access the foam blocks (which sit just forward of the rear crossbar, right under your rump). You should be able to get an arm inside to feel how heavy they are. If they're waterlogged, your best bet is to cut them up and remove them, and replace with pool noodles or something similar.

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Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238