Rumor has it...

Tad,

You've seen my I-17R and I-20...the new Tiger is cool, the Nacra F-18... I had a Hobie 18 and there is just no comparison to the newer boats. I think the H-16 is a great boat and will continue, but the H-18 and H-17 should remain affordable used boats and anyone looking for a new boat should check out any of the great boats that are out there. Next time in Tybee come sail my Inter 20 or I-17R...you'll never go back... Jim

Oh I know that your boats are better Jim, believe me I haven't stopped salivating since I had a good look at your I20. I'm just saying that this is an indication of a dying racing class(es) in my opinion.

I'd say it's a bit of lost opportunity on Hobie's part. These boats represent opportunity for sales more in a non-racing market these days. Hobie seems to be pushing the roto-molded boats for that. But there's still people out there that might think the roto molded boats are toys. Their choice is toy or racing machine, and they might choose neither.

The 18 is a great non-racing day sailor platform (Hell, it's still a good racer, but the new boats are a new game). From a manufacturing standpoint, cut costs by getting rid of the custom castings and use parts from other boats in continued production to cut cost. Daggerboards from other boats (using an insert in the trunk or something), or maybe use the centerboard system from the 17 for less hassle day sailing. It's got roller furling, add a reefing system for the main. Make it a smaller more affordable 21sc. Get people day sailing with their kids instead of racing.

Just an idea.

It's true, I've just received the official word from Hobie Cat on the demise of the Hobie 17 and 18.[/b]
I have permission to publish this news, but I'm not sure I should just quote it here, If you don't want to follow the link, the story basically says it's the end of the line for all models of the 17 and 18, and gives a list of the current production models.

I was shocked at first, but then I had to realize that since 1993 when I purchased my used TheMightyHobie18, I have never seen a brand new Hobie 18. If they aren't selling, you can't just store them forever on hope.

I suspect a big part of the non-racing market doesn't care that much about the things that distinguish a roto molded boat from a H17 or TheMightyHobie18 - they want to get into and out of the water quickly so they don't lose all their sailing time, and some of these newer boats do that nicely.

Another part of the non-racing market likes to pick up used boats for cheap, and doesn't want to put out the money for a new boat of any variety. I'm describing me here - we don't drive the market, we pick up used gear that you racers are done playing with. I am very happy with my Prindle 16, and can't see any reason to want a new boat. I might want a somewhat larger used boat, like a used P-18 or H-18.

So why should the non-racing market care about new H17s or H18s?

Jonathan

I think that Nacra did just that with the 570 and the 500, they took the hulls from the 5.7 and the 5.0 and used parts from the Inter like the crossbeams. I would still feel safer with a fiberglass hull than a rotomoulded hull in the long run

I think that the thing that saves the old Nacra's was the buoyancy and the simplicity of the rigging. The Hobie 18 is more complicated and much less forgiving than the Nacra 5.7/570.

However, I will miss the Hobie 17, I recently acquired a Nacra 5.2 but I really considered the Hobie 17 as well. The only problem that I found about the Hobie 17 is that it is much more expensive than the Nacra 5.2 in the used market and that it is rated slower. Also, the hull seemed smaller than the Nacra and I was afraid that it might have some buoyancy problems (I am a bigger guy and I also sail with a crew)

Another thing is that the FX-one and the Inter17 have demonstrated that there is a market for the 17’ single handler/double handler catamaran and I think that a cheaper cat would have been nice in the line-up

I just hope they don't destroy the molds, as they did with the Hobie 14. You never know when something is going to become popular again, like hiphugger pants and platform shoes.

On the other hand, I've been told that it is very easy to make new molds from existing hulls.

It seems like such a short time ago when the Hobie 17 was introduced and the company made a big splash by getting some hotshots to sail them at the Citrus Fest or the Red Lobster or whatever it was back then up in Sanford, Florida. The late, great Carlton Tucker was the main hotshot guy, and I remember us sitting there on our Hobie 18, resting before a race, and there came Carlton on the new Hobie 17, zooming past us, flying a hull, big grin on his face, and making it look like the funnest boat in the world.

My first Hobie was an 18 and I always loved it inspite of its rather hefty weight compared to today's cats. It always felt so stable and fast, even in heavy air and seas. Jim McCann sold me the first Hobie 17 received in Florida and I was an eager buyer after watching him sail it in the first regatta. The sail was huge and baggy, but, hey, it had wings and could take my 185 pounds without falling over in the sea like the H-14's.

We actually had a small fleet of them for awhile at almost every regatta. I always kept an 18 for those regattas where I could scare up crew and much preferred it to sailing the H-17 solo. As Mary recalls, we had some huge cat regattas in those days here in Florida. I remember over 500 boats at one LobsterFest, and it was not uncommon to see over 300 Hobies for the Midwinter's East.

Where did they all go?

Jon Hamlet
Taipan 4.9 #217

Is it possible to use old fiberglass molds for roto-mold?

Nope!

Not only that, but the shapes and structure of the hulls themselves need to be tailored to the process. The material itself doesn't have the stiffness of fiberglass/foam, so the shape needs to be designed to help get stiffness, or a framework needs to be inside. Long, flat surfaces don't work. You're not likely to see existing designs directly converted for this reason. There's also probably a limit to size of the boat, but these things will change as technology is advanced.

So, again, I'll lament the fact the roto will be the only option for recreational boats. I still think there's a market for more recreational boats, but it would need to be developed, as most people don't look this way anymore.

Movies of 18s playing in the surf from the past make one wonder if anybody plays that way anymore. Can't imagine any roto or pure racing boats in that environment...

Thanks Keith, Looks like I'll be pushing the H21 around a while longer. It will keep me(get me) in shape.

Keith:

I play in the surf with my H17, ask Jim Stone, he witnessed it. I consider my 17 more of a glorified windsurfer, so I love playing in the waves with it. To bad boats aren't like cars and start gaining value after 25 years out of production. I'll be checking out a Tornado at your club on sunday Keith, so it maybe soon that I'll be retiring my 17, I haven't really decided.

I enjoy hearing stories of you guys that were involved in the hayday of cat sailing. I would have loved to participate in an event like that. And despite all the things people say about my beloved little h17, what Mary said about the "funnest" boat in the world is certainly an opinion that I share

Well, I wasn't there for the heyday either...

17 is probably a great surf boat.

The surf action I was talking about is the footage in the Hobie video. Great shots of 18s frolicking off the beach and in BIG surf. Have a hard time picturing an Escape or Wave or my 20...

I'm in the process of selling my 18, but wouldn't mind finding a spot on a beach for it for fun sailing. Lounging on wings with the spin out...

Good luck with the T, maybe we'll cross paths on Sunday. My main task that day will be chlorinating a well.

We're meeting at 4pm, if that helps our path's crossing 😛

The 17 doesn't really "do well" in the surf like the 18 does. The 18 goes over the waves (well most of them) where as the 17 goes through most of it.... its not a wave-piercing design either 😛

WHAT’S NEXT?

I started a Hobie dealership this summer and I found the following to be the case in my area, which correlates to Hobie’s decision to drop the H17 & 18. I found that sometimes I would have people call me about the TheMightyHobie18 (no one ever called about the 17), but those that wanted to buy a cat always ended up buying a Getaway or a H16. The Wave and Bravo seemed to have equal interest but not as much as the Getaway. I will say I got a lot of calls about the Tiger, but as yet have not made any sales, even though I believe the sales are coming. The H16 sells well, but is interesting why one would buy a new one when there are so many used ones available. I think part of this is due to some wanting the newer H16 for the integrated travelers, etc and some just wanting a new boat. To me it’s like the ski boat industry, there are a lot of used boats available but there is just something about buying a new one (it’s not just the racers that are buying new H16’s). So for me it’s their 3 roto-molded boats and the 2 fiberglass boats (H16 & Tiger) that are the best sellers and will continue to be for a long time to come. I am still comparing the Fox1 to other cats though, but seems like a great solo cat. I think eventually Hobie is going to drop a few more of their boats to streamline a little more, which makes sense to me. Doesn’t seem like there is much of a market or interest in the Fox, Dragoon, H21SC. some may see the discontinuation of the 17 & 18 as a sign that Hobie is having sales problems, I see it as a good sign that Hobie is being smart, etc.

From my point of view! The current Hobie USA catamaran product lineup (7 Models)

Hobie Bravo (12')
Hobie Wave (13')
Hobie Getaway (16')
Hobie 16 (16' 7")
Hobie FX1 (17')
Hobie Tiger (18')
Hobie 20 Miracle (19' 6")

The End of the line is not too distant for these Hobie models (3 Models). I know two of these models are new but it does not seem from what I have heard that they are catching on and/or gaining interest.

Hobie Dragoon (12' 10") – down side, to small for older teens
Hobie Fox (20') – down side, Just did not match up well against other 20 footers
Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser (21') – Getaway does it better with quicker set-up & price

sail-s,

Thanks for your perspective and I agree. It sounds like a smart business move to streamline things a bit. I too don't know anyone that has bought a new TheMightyHobie18 (although I do know one or two new H17 purchasers).

I too am sad to see these boats being lost to production, but we still have a ton of them out there racing, and have even seen a resurgence of the TheMightyHobie18 racing fleet in our area.
I just want to say that as a regatta organizer for many years, I can always count on Hobie to donate some goodies to our regattas. Also on that note, our local Hobie Dealer, Charlie at Downwind Sails in Myrtle Beach, has been very generous as well. He has been a key part of racing in South Carolina even though the market is not real strong for new boats.
I wish Hobie Cat well in all its endeavors.

david mosley
www.seacats.org

Dear Hobie Sailors,

October 9, 2003: It is always difficult to come to the end of an "era", but Hobie Cat Company has had to face the fact that it is no longer economically feasible to continue to build our Hobie 17 Special Editions and Hobie 17 Sports, as well as our Hobie 18 Special Editions and Hobie 18 SX's. Both the 17 and 18 enjoyed life cycles that would make any manufacturer proud. More importantly, we are proud of the introduction to sailing and enjoyment they provided to so many people for so many years. For us, it is like saying goodbye to old friends.

The bright side to this announcement is that we have introduced some boats in recent years that have, slowly but surely, rendered the H17s and H18s virtually obsolete. The Hobie Getaway, in particular, has fulfilled, and to some extent surpassed, many of the features of both boats for the recreational user, and for less money. The Hobie Tiger and, to a lesser extent, the Hobie FX-1 in this size range have raised the bar a bit on the racing side of things, and have re-invigorated the racing scene in many parts of the country. Our Hobie 16 sales remain constant, which in itself is unusual for a boat of it's vintage, and thus remains a very healthy and important part of our product lineup.

As with previously discontinued models (Hobie 14 for example), we expect that sailing and racing of these boats will continue to be strong for many years to come. With this in mind, we have set aside parts to support those boats for the foreseeable future. In addition, our network of dealers have many parts and some may even have these boat models (new) in stock.

The current Hobie USA product lineup (11 Models):

Hobie Bravo (12')
Hobie Wave (13')
Hobie Getaway (16')
Hobie Dragoon (12' 10")
Hobie 16 (16' 7")
Hobie FX1 (17')
Hobie Tiger (18')
Hobie 20 Miracle (19' 6")
Hobie Fox (20')
Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser (21')
Hobie TriFoiler (22')

Hobie Cat USA
www.hobiecat.com

Looking at that model line-up, it seems to me they've pretty much got all the bases covered. Sure, you wouldn't find me buying a Rotomolded Hobie, but the roto-boats are mostly entry-level designs geared towards people who don't know the difference anyhow.

I was at the Annapolis boatshow yesterday, and with all this in mind, I looked at the catamaran representation at the show from the mind's eye of what would be the impression people would get of Hobie and cat-sailing in general.

I would think that Hobie is a kayak company.

A slightly unfortunate location had things tucked away somewhat. The Getaway was tucked away, an FX1 was more prominant, but behind the kayaks. The salesman noted to customers that the 18 was discontinued, that it weighed 600 lbs, and that the much lighter FX1 was a completely different boat as it was a race boat that couldn't launch from the beach, and that it was not really for more than one person. Price on the FX1, after you added the jib and spin pakage was almost $14k without trailer. There was a Wave and Bravo.

When I was there, there seemed to be few people taking notice at all, but the interest was in the FX1. Little excitement, lots of kayaks.

But at least they were there - the only other small cat was the Escape. No Performance boats, not even the Isotope this year.

I would have liked to have seen the FX-1, but I was too busy having fun on Kevin's tornado.

What about the fx-1 makes it not-beach launchable? Give me one, I'll show them how to launch it off a beach 😛

Come on out to a CRAC race, you'll likely to see one!

How did your ride on the T go? I'm guessing you might be hooked...

The non-beachable thing is more that you should float the boat on and off the wheels, not run up it on and sail it across the the beach like the 18 in Sharing the Wind...

Yeah I'm hooked.

I'm going to save up the money over the winter, and buy the boat hopefully sometime in early spring. I'm ready to make the step into the tornado world after my experience.

We launched, and immediately started heading out to the mouth of the river. We launched the chute (which, I have to say, the launching and retrieval system is truely ingenious) and headed down a bit. Kevin let me take the tiller... it was pretty amazing what a balanced, tuned boat feels like. I was perfectly comfortable driving the boat with the chute up, even though it was my first time doing so on any catamaran. Even in 8 knots of breeze we had the wild thing going on.

Unfortunately, the wind died on the way back, but that gave Kevin and I an opportunity to talk shop, which is always enjoyable when you're talking to a guy that has the unique talents of Kevin 😛

We broke down the boat for the season, and put it on the tilt trailer at about 8pm. It was pretty impressive how the trailer worked, definitely going to have to get one of those.

All in all, a very delightful experience. I'm sold on the boat, and I just got my first full-time job yesterday, so by spring, I'll be in a position to buy the carbon boat. I'm thinking about keeping it up in MD and racing it around there with/against Kevin so I can pick up on his tricks and so forth, get some tutiledge.