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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:41 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2013 12:19 pm
Posts: 20
I am new to hobies. If I get to the point that my old (1978) hulls fail, does hobie sell new hulls only? If so, what is the price? I have a few soft spots on the top of my hulls, but all the rest of my boat is in great shape. I know you can repair this, but there are already the epoxy repairs made by someone else that still have soft spots. I think I am just going to sail it until I cannot anymore. If they do fail, I would like options after that.

Has anyone had a hull fail why sailing in small lake moderate conditions, 20 mph or less. The sides of my hulls are solid, just some soft spots on the deck which intuitively I would not think would keep me out of the water, but everyone seems to make this seem like it is a big deal, from my reading. For recreational sailing, do they pose that big of a concern when the sides are solid? Who has had a hull fail when sailing recreationally? Those who have, what were the conditions of your hulls and where were the soft spots located?


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:26 pm 
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Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:23 pm
Posts: 52
you should check this post out:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=42775
as for as soft spots, in my experience once hulls "go soft" more and more spots appear. I would not sail a boat that has soft spots in anything more than 8 knots of wind, basically when you start flying a hull while sitting on the tramp solo. the tops of the hulls are very structurally critical, if they are soft then the hull can and will fold upwards and break in two, just like the picture in the link.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:28 am 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
Hobie sells replacement hulls although I don't see the price listed in the cataloge, so you will have to call a dealer. It will be several thousand dollars per hull, so generally speaking, it would not make sense to put a new set of hulls on a 35 year old boat. You would be better off either finding a used set of replacement hulls or buying a complete boat (new or used) and parting out your current boat.

Sailing with soft decks in front of the pylon is asking for disaster. The deck in that area is structural and the hull could collapse if pushed too hard- not a good idea. Consider how you plan on getting your boat, your crew, and yourself back to the beach when your mast comes down and one of your hulls is in pieces....

sm


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:27 am 
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Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2013 12:19 pm
Posts: 20
Thanks Guys. I guess that area is more structural than I first thought. Some of the areas were previously repaired by someone else, but there are a couple soft spots next to the repaired area. I am going to attempt to repair these areas with the epoxy method before I sail. Has anyone had an epoxy repaired deck fail? Hopefully that will get me through till then end of next summer. I will then start looking for a set of solid used replacement hulls (hope that is possible!!!)

Thanks again.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:54 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:28 pm
Posts: 323
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Your best bet is to buy a 2nd old hobie with good hulls, take the best parts from each, and sell the leftovers on ebay or craigslist. If you find one on the cheap w/ a bent mast or bad sails (assuming you have good ones) you can probably break even.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:32 pm 
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Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:53 am
Posts: 99
Location: Florida Panhandle
I'm not at all advocating sailing with delamintaed hulls however, my first Hobie had some extreme delamination forward of the trampoline. Top side of the hulls and both inboard and outboard sides were about 70% delaminated. I knew they were bad but I was ignorant about how bad. It wasn't until I started reading here that I realized the extent of just how bad things were. I sailed it in NW florida in the Choctaw bay during some pretty windy days that first summer until a crack right up at near the bridle attachment opened up and I decided not to fix them. They should have failed considering how hard I sailed them, but they never did...

I would be willing to bet the percentage of failed hulls is extremely small, in the tenths of 1 percent more than likely. Good to know they're actually built very well and can survive alot of abuse.

_________________
1999 Hobie 20, Sail #1005
2001 Hobie 16, "Spirit of 76 sails" #18515. Sold
1981 Hobie 18, Dead!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:19 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:00 pm
Posts: 68
No, I have not had a failed hull but it was iminent.... One of my hulls was basically one big soft spot. Did a bunch of the "typical" repair/remedy. Was fortunate enough to come across a replacement hull and just made the switch this weekend.

Not knowing what to do with the old one, i got out the sawzall and had a little bit of fun. Wow, what a learning experience. It gave me the opportunity to better feel and see the difference between the good and bad. When the hull is solid, there is complete integrety between the three layers. at its worst, the soft spot is delam between all three layers. With that, there is absulutely no strength. For anybody with a serious spot issue, I would suggenst to not take the boat out on all but the the most calm days. Anything else is asking for failure. Good thing there is foam floatation inside the hull!


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:57 pm 
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Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:53 am
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Location: Florida Panhandle
When the crack appeared we were headed back toward the house anyway as it was just getting to windy for comfort. It was really blowing pretty hard that day and the bay was rough, we were on a port tack, the crack was about eight inches long on the starboard hull right up by the bridle attaching point. Gulping water with every wave like Pac Man eating ghosts. We kept as close to the shore as possible, as the hull filled with water and hull sank below the surface the rudder finally popped. My girlfriend and I were leaning as far out as possible to provide ballast. We sailed/scraped the last half mile to the house with the Starboard hull riding solid on the sandy bottom. My son said we looked like Johnnie Dep in the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" coming back along the shore. We got lucky and it's a fun story to tell. Like you my Sawzall had it's way with the hull after that and it was amazing to see how bad they were.

_________________
1999 Hobie 20, Sail #1005
2001 Hobie 16, "Spirit of 76 sails" #18515. Sold
1981 Hobie 18, Dead!
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:45 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:04 am
Posts: 236
Location: Bowie, MD
I once went sailing on a friend's 16 that had major soft spots on the decks just forward of the front pylons. I warned him about them but he said he had sailed the boat a number of times and to not worry about it. He let me skipper as we left the beach. We had a nice breeze, around 12 knots. He went out on the wire and I sheeted in to get the windward hull to come up a little. Started to sheet in a little more and the windward hull folded in half! Mast came down, pulling him in to the boat with it. Nobody was hurt and we were able to walk the boat back to the beach. So, short answer is yes, soft spots can lead to hull failure.


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