I'm looking for my first catamaran and was looking for recomendations between a Hobie 16, hobie 18' or Solcat 18'
Any advice would be appreciated
thanks!

Its hard to say without knowing your past sailing experience, or if this is your first dive into sailing.

The Hobie 16 is an easy boat to learn on, really basic setup, and you can find the boats and the replacement parts quite easily. But you are prone to pitch poling and may be limited with the amount of crew weight you carry on board. Another plus is that it is easy to setup, possibly even by yourself if you are strong enough to step the mast.

Moving up to the 18 footer makes setup a two person job, but you can also take more people on the boat with you at a time. They are also quite a bit faster than the 16 footer and provide more of a challenge. The 18s, although more challenging, are actually more predictable and stable than the 16, so your less likely to take an unexpected dunk in the water.

When it comes down to a Hobie 18 or SolCat 18, its harder to say. The Hobie will be easier to find replacement parts for, but anything made before 1984 will weigh a lot more and be harder to handle getting it on and off the trailer. The newer hobie 18s reduced much of this weight. The SolCat is a fun boat, but they are a bit more rare so finding replacement parts can be more of a challenge, although there are quite a few company's that still sale both used and new parts for the boat. The rarity of the boat can also be fun as many strangers will come up and want to talk about the scarcity of SolCats or their unique setups.

Thanks for the info!
I'm leaning towards an 18' for distance sailing.
Can Hobie sails fit on a Solcat mast if I have to replace one down the line?

bhull

Thanks for the info!
I'm leaning towards an 18' for distance sailing.
Can Hobie sails fit on a Solcat mast if I have to replace one down the line?

I don't think you understand how rare the Solcat is. So rare that most of us have never seen one in person. I have no idea when exactly they were produced or how many may have been manufactured.

If anyone has that kind of information I would like to have it for the Identification archives.

--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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I don't intend to hi-jack this thread in attempt to hawk my wares, but I put together a small website to assist in the sale of my SolCat. If you go to the bottom of the page I have a link to a PDF containing some of the original brochures, sales sheets, and the factory setup manual for the SolCat boats. These may come in handy for your identification archives as they contain all of the factory specs and dimensions.

http://www.laurusmedia.com/solcat/index.html

I'm unsure of the exact dates, but I believe the SolCat line of boats (14, 18, 20) were being produced through the years 1976-1981

Thanks! That is some really good stuff! Good luck with selling your Solcat, I am sure there is someone who wants a unique beachcat.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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See that? From my research an 18' Hobie i just as rare to find for sale as a Solcat 18'

Maybe Monstacotyscott can share his experiences with his Solcat?

Does it compare with a Hobie 18? Are sails interchangeable?
And why would you want to sell such a beautiful boat?

I honestly don't know about the interchanging of sails. The SolCat has a mast length of 28', and the Hobie a mast length of 28'1", so I would imagine the sails are very similar in size and shape. I'm sure a sailmaker could easily modify a hobie sail to work, but it may not swap directly over.

SolCat sails can often be found used, and Midwest Sailing actually sales many NEW parts for the SolCat, including sails.

I love the SolCat, I just have the opportunity to upgrade to a NACRA 5.8 and wanted to give it a go. It's certainly a unique boat and gets a lot of comments from sailors and non-sailors a like. It's a pretty predictable boat and its rare that I ever capsize without really pushing it's limits.

I would say it compares pretty closely to the Hobie 18. The Portsmouth Rating on the Hobie is 71.4, where as the SolCat is 74.9, making the Hobie a technically faster boat, but a good sailor can easily make up for that gap.

Being a Solcat owner / sailor I found that I was able to completely rebuild my boat without any problems, any rigging, blocks or other small parts I was able to get from Murrys.com. I happen to live 30min. away from them but they ship all over the states.

I was able to upgrade my sails with much better ones by watching for other solcat for sale.

I can go on but, if you go with the solcat drop me a line and I would be happy help with any information I have. I still sail her regularly, they are great boats.

Good Luck


--
Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
--

It was the spring of 1974 and I was at the NY Boatshow when I first saw the Sol Cat 18. I was considering a Hobie 16, but the Sol Cat just looked more intense. So I purchased one (Sail 1210). Most people on Long Island had Hobies and I got tired or handicapp racing. Found a fleet down in Barnegat Bay, NJ.

Raced with them up to 1977-78. Thats when the Nacra's started to show up and people switched over to them. I sold my Sol Cat around 1986, now I wished I still had it.

It was a great boat, had a lot of good times on it.

Charlie

In the early '80's I owned a Hobie 16, had a lot of fun on that boat. Easy to sail, Stuffed the bows a hundred times. sold it in the late 80's and three years ago found a "free" Sol 18. I fell in love at first sight, ree-built her and went sailing for two years until i had an opportunity to get a Nacra 5.7.
I re-built the SolCat from the ground up.
A little tip.
Dont buy a tramp from Salty Dog Marine. The thing has lasted three years and is now falling apart.
I bought a Hobie 18 Main and it worked perfectly. stay away from equipment used in salt water.
Murrays, Beachcats, catsailor, mast bearings from "timgoes" on ebay, and ebay, provided the rest of what I needed to make her a very cool boat.
I mmounted a gps to the front beam and recorded 24.3 mph while sailing 2 up in a winds I clocked at 25 to 32 mph. Now, Im not saying that I actually went that fast, I had just left shore less than a minute before and wasn't watching the gps, but when I looked at it, it gave top speed as 24.3mph. I have had it up to 18-20 mph many times with the lee bow just dipping below the surface while crew and I were being pummelled in the face by three foot waves. We were laughing our asses off and crapping our shorts at the same time. AWSOME!!!
the sol is a great boat but it has been getting some hard sailing, ie high winds latley and the bridle connection on the port bow are failing. Hopefully we fixed it with epoxy. Make sure you check the top of the hulls in front of the main beam for soft spots and separation at the bridle attachments.
I set the trailer up with a winch and a block at the top of the mast cradle for raising the mast single handed, it works like a champ. Trap wires are attached to the Jib blocks for side to side support.
I have righted the Sol 18 many times single handed with a rope and a righting bag. I am 5'10"- 180lb. Most of the time I single handed.
Before I got her, my boat sat in a guys back yard under a tree for 20 years so she still had some shine left. I hit her w/ some 1500 grit wet paper and wax and when I pulled up to the club's , it was like pulling up in a mint 57 Chev. Then I would go out and stand her up on one hull for a while.
Very cool boat!
That being said, there is no such thing as a free or even cheap boat.
My 5.7 Nacra cost $1500 and I have less than $2000 in her for ten times the boat.
That's pretty close to what I had in the Sol whenit was all said and done.
Good luck and steady winds.

I just bought an old used SOL cat and know nothing about it.
It looks great for 200.00!
I am replacing the sails and trampoline for new ones thru an online source...and the hulls and rigging look fine.
Any Sol cat owners feel like sharing any info, would be greatly appriciated!
Thanks!

congrats.. would love to see some pics

Solsailer,

I owned a Solcat 18 for about 12 years, raced her for the first 4 years. If you have any questions, let me know. Give me you email if you want to discuss anything off-line.

A few questions, what color were the Hills? Do you know the original sail number?

Charlie

I recently (about 7 hours ago) got a used Solcat 18 and spent a couple of hours with my friend trying to figure it out. (I've never sailed a catamaran in my life but look forward to learning the differences from a mono) We got the stays set up and everything seems to be fine except that the lines need replacing since it's been sitting outside for 14 years.

The only problem we had was getting that dang mast up, I guess I'm going to need to put together a winch since we just couldn't do it ourselves.

I've had fun exploring this site and look forward to learning mroe things!

Hi Charlie,
yes I would like to talk off line...cabanaglass2gmail.com
Please email me.
The original color of the hulls seems to be blue from what I can see under the white at present....I am getting ready to sand it down and repaint her this week.
I think the sails are original and will go to the garage to see about the no. on them.
I have ordered new sails for the Sol cat online from midwest sailing.
write when you can I want to inquire about some other questions.
Thanks so much for your input!
Kim

Hi guys, I just got a 78 Sol Cat 18 a few weeks ago. I'm very excited and can't wait for summer. The hulls are in good shape. I've already redone the bottoms of the dagger boards and got new wires for the rudders to raise and lower them. My sail number is 4081. If anybody knows any information about this cat, I'd like to know.

I have actually had a Sol Cat 18, Prindle 18, and Hobie 18 sail on top of eachother to measure. They are all close enough to be inter changed. The Solcat has a battened jib, though, so that is the main difference.

I just got a decent used Solcat 18 mainsail if anyone is interested..

Dan

The website monstacotyscott gave above was awesome...I downloaded the orginal owners manual for SOL CAT 18' .
It shows step by step how put put the entire boat together down to the rigging.
Thanks a million!!
solsailer

As a new sol cat owner, I am completly redoing the entire boat from scratch...right now it is being refiberglassed, I bought new sails thru "midwest sailing",,also a new trampoline and new rigging...
now I am looking into a new rudder system (if anybody knows which are best?)
I am also going to put running lights (running the wire inside the mast to a small dry cell or moped battery inside the deck plate on on of the hulls, as well as a waterproof stereo!
It has been fun customizing this thing, and soon it comes back with a brand new paint job and I can get all the rigging finished and get her in the water!!
Fun fun fun

Have owned 2 Hobie 18's and 2 SolCat 18's. I liked the SolCats better, but parts can be a big show stopper.

Owned a 1976 model in 1977-82. Then found a 1978 model 3 years ago. Just sold her due to shoulder surgery.

Nothing like the hum of a cat in 20 knots of wind. It gets burned on the brain, something you will never forget.

I couldn't figure out how to post pictures. Send me your email if you want some good pictures of Solcat 18's. Will try and load them somewhere on beachcats if I can figure it out.

Dave
desmd80@aol.com

I got a solcat 18 last summer and love it but I have a soft spot on 1 hull right where I sit how can I fix this? ( dont mean to hi jack , just tell me to re post if need be)

Try these sites

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/tech/delam.html

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=136971&page=1


Let me know if you can't get to these

Where do you sail ?

Jeff O

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Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
--

Hey guys,

I thought I'd post some pics of my Solcat 18 here since this thread had everything to do with me purchasing the Solcat in the first place. In particular, monstacotyscott's website. Unfortunately there aren't any "before" photos, but suffice to say the hulls had huge soft spots, dents, shoddy repairs and bady oxidized gelcoat. A dozen or so afternoons worth of injecting epoxy, filling, and sanding, sanding sanding....can't wait to get her in the water.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v294/CrdStang/Solcat/

(Yes, that really is a wooden trailer. No, I don't intend to use it, came with the boat)

CrdStang, I love the two tone paitn job. We have had our solcat for a few weeks now but have only used it a couple of times. The first trip the shrouds parted, new ones from Salty Dog. The only problem is last week end we were putting the jib on and the forstay was too thick for the jib hanks. Got to get the rat tail file out and fix that. Now I have a sone with a messed up knee from soccer so I'm not sure we will take it out this week end. If We go out I'll take some photos of he lime green beast.
Still haven't figured out how to attatch the bungie cord material to the trap lines. Any one have a clue about this. It had them before and there are a couple of blocks. I saw a post where they go under the trampoline through a couple of grommets. Ours dosen't have the holes in the tramp, I guess I could put some gromets in. Does anyone just run them on top of the trampoline, from side to side. Or do you go fore and aft with them?

More options here
http://www.murrays.com/mm…Code=C-TRA&Store_Code=MS



edited by: skarr1, Sep 04, 2009 - 10:47 PM

Hey Matt

My solcat has the grommets so the shock cord can run under the tramp and stay out of the way, but you could run over the top and through the rings on the hulls or you could just run the shock cord short and knot them off to the rings on the deck.

I would try running over the tramp first and see if they are to much in the way, if so you could try the short cord to the rings.

I will send you a pic.

good luck

Jeff O



--
Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
--

I sat on a Sol Cat 18 this week end shortly after member of our sailing group limped it back from being turtled for an hour and a half. He was sailing it solo is only about 200 lbs. and had no righting bag. He ended up sending a jetski to the beach we wre all at to get us to come rescue him. But. It looks like a nice boat.


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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
--

Well, we took her out for her first sail, and nothing serious broke. We had a blast too! Got her up to about 12 knots on the GPS.

brigittematt, your jib has hanks? Mine doesn't...strange. I don't know if the sails I have are orginal or not. Does your jib have battens?

As far as the shock cord issue goes, my boat has a shock cord running inside the forward crossbeam. It comes out the ends and has a 2:1 block set on each side with 1/4" rope and about 2' of slack. There's a V jamb on one of the blocks. I imagine this is part of the trapeze setup, but I don't know how it's supposed to go together.

hi guys, looks like this post inactive for a year or two, anyone still out there?

I've been a lake sailor since childhood, currently doodle around on a sunfish. I always wanted a little cat and just got back from purchasing a hobie 14. Sitting in the yard next to it was when I went to look was a blue cat that I recognized by the shape of the hulls as a Solcat 18. The guy told me to just take it with the Hobie. Supposed to be complete, rudders and daggers are there, sails in a tote, rigging, wires and ropes everywhere! I've got the manual from above, any other suggestions?

dapologuy

The guy told me to just take it with the Hobie. Supposed to be complete, rudders and daggers are there, sails in a tote, rigging, wires and ropes everywhere!

Wow, what a score!

--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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no kidding, That's awesome. In our little fleet the Solcat 18 is my biggest competitor.

--
Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
--

bringing her home tomorrow, maybe I can figure out how to post some pictures (I'm not very "techy") and get you guys to help me figure this thing out. Sailing season is just about over here (NJ) so I'm figuring by spring...

I'm very jealous. Have had mine apart for almost a year until this weekend. Put the restoration on hold to go out and have a little fun (or a lot!). Crew was new to cats, too, and had a blast.

damonAdmin

bhull

Thanks for the info!
I'm leaning towards an 18' for distance sailing.
Can Hobie sails fit on a Solcat mast if I have to replace one down the line?

I don't think you understand how rare the Solcat is. So rare that most of us have never seen one in person. I have no idea when exactly they were produced or how many may have been manufactured.

If anyone has that kind of information I would like to have it for the Identification archives.

Hi Damon, I'm new to the forum. There's a nice Sol Cat 18 on my beach here in CT if you want me to snap some pictures. The design of the hulls and tramp are closer to a Hobie 17 than my H18 e.g., The boat appears to have significantly less hull volume than a H18 and the tramp is sloped like a 17. One thing I found interesting is there is a large aluminum boom-like structure running underneath the tramp center lacing connecting the front and aft crossbars. The ID is prominently stamped on the transom and it appears to be a 1976 boat. You would never know it looking at the sails, however. It's in good condition.

BrianCT

Hi Damon, I'm new to the forum. There's a nice Sol Cat 18 on my beach here in CT if you want me to snap some pictures. The design of the hulls and tramp are closer to a Hobie 17 than my H18 e.g., The boat appears to have significantly less hull volume than a H18 and the tramp is sloped like a 17. One thing I found interesting is there is a large aluminum boom-like structure running underneath the tramp center lacing connecting the front and aft crossbars. The ID is prominently stamped on the transom and it appears to be a 1976 boat. You would never know it looking at the sails, however. It's in good condition.

Welcome Brian, thanks for the info. Please fill out your profile when you get a chance. (Profile link in main menu)

What you said about the Solcat hulls is what I've heard as well, that they don't like a lot of weight, but the boat is fast if sailed by lightweight crew.

--
Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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I think this is the sweetest looking Sol Cat I have ever seen!!

http://richmond.craigslist.org/boa/1949546185.html

I have no idea who is selling it, so I'm not helping anyone out, BUT, if you want a nice Sol, check it out!

Thanks Damon, below are some photos of the Sol Cat 18 I was referring to. Like I said, it resembles an H-17 more than it does an H-18. I've seen this guy on the water and it certainly moves.....

Hefty center post underneath the tramp lacing:


Sloped tramp:


Rudder Assembly:

Just acquired a solcat 18 that has no sails or centerboards. Would love to take her out once to see if it's worth fixing her up... I've seen some pics of split hulls and read about rigging pulling loose so want to get out on the water to see she'll float... if so I'll invest to fix her up. I'll check the links in these posts but if anyone has new references would love to get some parts.

mrmontana

I'll check the links in these posts but if anyone has new references would love to get some parts.

Congrats on your new boat. I have set of dugger boards, 1 extra rudder, boom, blocks if you need. PM me if you are interested or if you need info of how to rig it etc.

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Adam Bartos
Nacra 5.0
SolCat 18 (sold)
Lake Zurich, IL
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Have couple white jibs. See my ads in classifieds for phone # (pbegle). Pete

I have a few Sol 18 parts around if needed. Beams, rudders, ect..... I'd have to look to be sure, but let me know if you need something