Ohh my GOD, take a look at what I found

Ohh my GOD, take a look at what I found

I got my hands on a Hobie cat models price list from 1st sept 2004 and onwards !

Of all models !

Lets take a look at our competition :

FX-one

Hobie FX-one (just mainsail a la A-cat) ; 11.982 Euro's

Hobie FX-one (fully fitted a la F16) ; 11.982 + 1495 (selftacker + jib) + 1909 (spi + snuffer) = 15386 Euro's

Hobie Max (Their ISAF youth entry 145 kg and smaller sails than F16)

Hobie Max Club (I assume sloop + spi + snuffer) ; 11.566 Euro's

*

Hobie 16's (you can buy 6 ! different versions I will only name the 4 most used and ignore the easy and club versions)

Hobie 16 classic (completely bare ; you won't win a race with that) ; 9026 Euro's

Hobie 16 Le race ( What you want as the bare minimum ) : 9977 Euro's

Hobie 16 max race (What you want to be competitive in OD H16 racing ) : 12.578 Euro's

Hobie 16 max race ++ (I thought this was a One-design class !?) : 15.600 Euro !!!!

That max race ++ has all the upgrades and options like "reinforced hulls" ; "mesh trampoline" etc

Spi kit with snuffer for the H16 1867 Euro ! Without the snuffer 1144 Euro's; That spi snuffer is 723 Euro's !

To be fair I will give our competition the F16 prices. (F16 means means with all things like spi etc that you need for F16 racing)

Stealth F16 (singlehander - no jib setup) + carbon mast) 6800 * 1.455 = 9894 Euro's

Stealth F16 (fully fitted + carbon mast) 7800 pounds * 1.455 = 11.350 Euro

Stealth F16 (same as above with halve carbon hulls) 8225 * 1.455 = 11.967 Euro

Stealth F16 (same as above with full carbon hulls) 8800 * 1.455 = 12.804 Euro's

Taipan F16 (fully fitted, optimized, selftacker, carbon stocks, the works + delivery from Aus) = 15.500 Euro's

US Blade F16 (fully fitted, selftacker, carbon [censored], the works + delivery to EU) = 11.850 / 1.29 * 1.21 + 1750 = 12.865 Euro's

EU Blade F16 (Fully fitted, bla, bla, bla know what I mean) = projected between 12.500 Euro's and 13.000 Euro's
Rumour has it that the full carbon hulls EU Blade will be less then 14.000 Euro's

AHPC snuffer system = 250 Euro's ; AHPC complete spi kit incl shipping and customs = 1400 Euro's

Stealth snuffer system = 210 * 1.455 = 305 Euro's

And both snuffers weight halve of the Hobie ones as well.

Take a look at the Stealth prices again ! Who said Carbon was expensive ?

I used to say that a standard competitive Hobie 16 was not much more cheaper than a fully fitted F16, Now I can say that a standard competitive Hobie 16 is the same as a fully fitted F16 ! Such a Hobie 16 with spi is more expensive then the F16's except the Taipan F16 that has to be shipped all the way from Aus !

How about that Hobie Max youth boat ? Overweight, underpowered with pear shape alu mast and just as expensive as a fully blown Stealth F16 with carbon mast and 35 kg lighter. Not to mention the speed difference.

I think the race is on for Europe, guys. With the H16 out of the Youth class the window is opening.

Wouter