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PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 7:10 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2007 8:45 pm
Posts: 1668
Location: Northfield Minnesota
You guys are a pack of whiners.

Boo hoo, I can't find Hobie Parts at the corner gas station.

Try something popular like golf, not a sport that has essentially nobody doing it.


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 6:01 am 
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Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2003 7:14 pm
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Location: West MI
Thank You Karl !

I use my local Hobie dealer, who is over two hours away. I call, order, and I can either pick it up or they ship the stuff straight to the house. I had a tramp ordered when I lost my job, he said no problem, I'll sell it to the next person who calls. Get that service out of the big box cat store.

Support your local Hobie dealer, or any Hobie Dealer for that matter.

BTW: I stock more parts for my Hobie than my sister does on her 11 meter sailboat. The reason, she can go to the local Worst Marine.

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1989 Hobie 18 Worlds Boat, Magnum Wings & Spinnaker
1987 Hobie Holder 20 #273

dale.vanlopik"at"att"dot"net


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:28 am 
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Location: Black Hills South Dakota
I guess we need to get more folks into Hobie sailing. Perhaps more emphasis on recreational sailing, more camaraderie and less focus on organised racing.
I understand it is the racing that drives most Hobie sailing, and this led to the demise of the 18, only to be augmented with the heavy somewhat slow getaway.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 6:34 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:15 am
Posts: 495
Location: Saint John, NB Canada sailing on Washademoak Lake
Quote:
Support your local Hobie dealer, or any Hobie Dealer for that matter.


We own Hobie products, Hobie and their dealers are supposed to support us.

I am willing to support, but it needs to be reciprocal. I am not going to give my unconditional support.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:11 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:36 pm
Posts: 788
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Order throught your local hobie dealer and drop ship from a centralized national warehouse to your home. Why is that such hard a concept. The system is already in place, electronic catalog, dealer network, warehouse, USPS/UPS/Fed-X, etc. I do not see why a part must be sent to the dealer, just to be remailed to you? :?: :idea:


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:35 pm 
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Location: Knoxville, TN
You incorrectly assume dealers don't have things drop shipped. Fact is, my dealer had that done for my new trampoline, a set of sails and Cat Trax.

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Mark Van Doren
H16 Seabreeze #112205 (Richard Petty Signature Edition)
H14T Fantasia #47787
San Juan 28


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:36 pm 
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Location: Northfield Minnesota
fastcat wrote:
Order throught your local hobie dealer and drop ship from a centralized national warehouse to your home. Why is that such hard a concept. The system is already in place, electronic catalog, dealer network, warehouse, USPS/UPS/Fed-X, etc. I do not see why a part must be sent to the dealer, just to be remailed to you? :?: :idea:


How about you keep some parts of your own on hand? I carry two main sails, three spinnakers, blocks, line, bungee, cleats, parts to make booms, spinnaker poles, all sorts of stuff in my box because I'm even more impatient than you are! I don't even want to wait for a next day shipment when I need parts.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:52 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 15027
Location: Oceanside, California
Quote:
Order through your local hobie dealer and drop ship from a centralized national warehouse to your home.


We call that a "drop-ship" order. Been doing it for as many years as I can remember. Not even Ford does that I'd bet. certainly not the manufacturing plant. At the minimum they have distribution warehouses.

Guys, we have been over and over this idea for many, many years. Once we take over the parts business direct... there goes the need for a dealer... and with it the opportunity to sell new boats. Laser has been heading that way and I can tell you, the end result is not positive for sailors.

The parts catalogs are online (pdf)... no, not a Hobie Factory shopping cart. We have not found a way to manage the complexity involved in internet sales due to dealer territories and agreements let alone the international aspect. It is not at all simple. We take an order and email it to a dealer... they may not fill it in a timely basis. We take and order and ship for them... they may have had some or all of the stock on hand. They don't get a chance to talk to you about possible changes to your order or what is maybe new. You order the wrong thing...

We don't have the staff to support hundreds of dealers and all of their customers. We have to have some layers. I can tell you that I have a lot of direct inquiries already, and in season, it is a hand full. I don't have 45 minutes to talk someone though the right shackle to order... but we do anyway. That is time we should be spending supporting dealers... to support you.

I'm sorry some feel that the Coleman, Tony era or Hobie Cat Europe have something on us here at Hobie USA these days. I can tell you by personal involvement... I think that is 100% wrong. This company is as good as it has ever been (better) in designing, producing and delivering quality product with great support. It's essentially much of the same team since the Coleman days too. We have turned this company around and are here today because of good choices in products and dealer / sales structure.

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


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:59 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:15 am
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Location: Saint John, NB Canada sailing on Washademoak Lake
One thing to add on support, as a fairly new Hobie owner, it did not take me long on this board to see that you, Matt, are very active and helping on the forum. You don't see that on all forums even if vendor maintained.

Thank you for that.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:08 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:46 pm
Posts: 1457
Location: Santa Cruz
Here's a little case study...

Vanguard, builder of the Laser, etc, etc, sold to Laser Performance 3 years ago. Laser Performance took over and opened a factory direct online store. Most of the dealers told them to get lost, and stopped carrying parts. Why should a dealer stock anything at that point when most goods are sold online? You should've been on the dealer conference call, it was bad.

Anyway, they probably haven't sold that many boats since the dealers started to bad mouth them. Many started selling RS Sailboats instead.

Now, since they don't have capital to build product, wait time on certain items is months.

Now, I venture to guess that they won't be around for that much longer.

It's a certain recipe to go from thriving company to virtually bankrupt in 3 years.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:28 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:13 am
Posts: 1184
Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
Last summer, we had to replace a forestay on a Club 1983 H18.....easy, right?
Fuggetabouttit. On arrival from Fogh Marine, we couldn't get it to fit....nor figure out why the new one was 3" longer.

Only the friendly dealer, Fogh Marine, and the two Matt's could help us in that there had been a design change over the years....they lost the lower swivel as it was not needed.

No problem, the next weekend, we were sailing again. This was only possible with help from a long established Hobie dealer, a great dealership set up and the terrific Hobie community. I, for one, am very happy to pay a dealer for personal and knowledgeable service like that. And to have help from Forum.

Now we have a good, used swivel in our parts box.

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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.'


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:28 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2007 6:06 pm
Posts: 610
Location: SE PA/ Chesapeak Bay
If you have been reading this "forum" for awhile, you'll know that I have my moments when I am upset and just piss and moan about parts availiblity ....

But ... I do try to support my local dealer Clews&Strawbridge .... and Murrays w/ my business (and I need to buy something from Jeremy soon , I just have a big inventory of spare parts stockpiled). I try to spread my business around a little bit as they have been very responsive and helpful .... now even thro I could source parts from other marine suppliers, I want them around when I need a part desperately ... like the very next day!!!!

And as for sails .... I think "Hobie" has come a long way in their efforts to consistently provide a high quality "one-design" sail ... my earlier H18 sails varied in some of their dimensions and the sewing was ... well the seams/stitching "wandered" let's say. My newest set (2007) are a well manufactured set of high quality sails and I am very happy w/ them.

I have found that "Hobie" and their dealers are very helpful and responsive ... "Hobie" even produced a limited run of new H18 Hulls ... (I desperately wanted a set, but my personal finances just won't allow for it ...)

( Hey Matt, If "Hobie" ever makes a run of H18 Tramps in "med blue" just reserve me a set and send me a E-Mail ... bill them though "Clews" and I'll go over and pay the bill ... and if possible can I purchase the material to make a new matching set of Magnum Wing covers also at the same time ....)

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H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:10 am 
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Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Karl Brogger, I totally agree about keeping a stock of expendables. I easily have over a couple grand of parts in my 'tool box'. I built up the supply over the past couple decades. One of the things I love about Hobies is that many of the parts are the same between boat types, so I can help fix other boats also. Last year I hit an underwater boulder at speed and damaged both bows and destroyed one centerboard. I patched the bows (fast set epoxy), replaced the centerboard (& spring) and was back on the water within 4 hours of the accident. I did have to redo the bows later resin and gelcoat, but that is the price one pays for getting back out on the water quickly. :wink:


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:30 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:24 am
Posts: 84
I also would like to add my appreciation to all that Jeremy has done over the years and to all the help Matt provides and the support of these forums. I second Rich's comments.

I also have a few parts built up over the years to support the four boats in the family.

And yes, the Hobie 20 that Jeremy refers to earlier in this thread is mine.
I searched all of Northern California to find this boat and bought it and rescued it for it was not being looked after.
(picture below)

Image

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Dwight Manning
Hobie 20 #916 San Jose CA 2000 Alter Cup
Hobie 20 #16 San Jose CA (Jordan) 2000 Alter Cup
Hobie 18 #916 Santa Cruz CA 1989 Worlds Boat
Hobie 16 #16 San Jose CA (Jordan) 2005 Custom Main
Hobie 16 #54466 Calling Lake Alta Tequila sunrise


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:33 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:24 am
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Try again with the picture:

Image

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Dwight Manning
Hobie 20 #916 San Jose CA 2000 Alter Cup
Hobie 20 #16 San Jose CA (Jordan) 2000 Alter Cup
Hobie 18 #916 Santa Cruz CA 1989 Worlds Boat
Hobie 16 #16 San Jose CA (Jordan) 2005 Custom Main
Hobie 16 #54466 Calling Lake Alta Tequila sunrise


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