This is just nonsense; sorry Bob


Hobie should get off their high horse and supply optimal sails with their boats and fit them out with the new generation of (sheet)lines. It is expensive now because a buyer HAS to buy a crappy in house Hobie suit of sail made by some loft in Hong Kong. If Hobie makes a deal with sail landenberger and performance sails so that Hobie can offer both suits on their tigers then everybody is happy. Hobie can still slap up thier profit margin. The lofts get alot of income to continue development and the sailor get some compitive sails for about the same price of those Hong Kong sails.

The only people not being happy in that respect are the OD-fascist who think that their 1995 Tiger with pinhead sails are competitive again any 2004 Tiger with the same (old) shape. They don't realize that their 1995 sails are shot anyway and that they don't stand a change without buying new sails anyways.

Why pay about the same amount for inferiour sails when one can have the new generation sails ? Afterall the inequality between 2002 and 2004 sails are slim at when the differences between 1995 and 2004 is huge. The development is gradual not wild.

What does it take for hobie to order a few roles of 6 mm swiftcord over 5 mm excel racing dyneema ? Even in the shops the difference is not much.

There is just no reason to not go with the times; neither from performance or production reasons.

One more thing, one poster commented about student not being able to pay for it. Which students ? This is a rich mans sport, always was. If you pay for a new tiger than you can pay dor new sails every two years. How many competitive marathon runners you see using the same pair of shoes for years ? It simply costs money to be competitive OR it takes alot of time. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first time that a very skilled sailor on an okay baot beat all the money boats by just sailing better.

Last I heard was Darren Bundock was sailing with dacron sails during the 2004 European championships. He got 1st there. WITH DACRON SAILS ! And he is 3rd in the Olympics now with the same sail dacron suit ex equo with Booth using some super expensive cuben fibre suit. Lovell with the same cuben fibres is still only 2nd with a few points less.

All I hear all over the forums is how formula is an arms race and expensive not to mention bad on the normal sailors.

That is just BS. A stealth F16 is 10.500 Euro's, hung with the Taipans during the DCC, while the standard single trapeze Hobie 16 is 10.300 Euro's and is blown out of the water ? Which is expensive ?

Mainsails ! Mine costed 1200 Euro's with battens and transport from Aus. Hobie Tiger Hong Kong main = 1450 Euro ex battens ! Fittings and rudderstocks. Inter 20 alu rudderstocks 375 Euro without the top part. Mine full carbon complete rudderstock incl shipping and complete from Aus 175 Euro's.

Hell, you can buy the newest go fast Tiger F18 main from landenberger for 1500 Euro's and it is well worth the 50 Euro price difference.

There is no arms race in the way it is often presented. Just slow gradual development that is available to all sailor the next season for very normal prices. And nearly all of these are either the same price or cheaper than their OD altenatives. Why do you think not many are buying Hobie mains ? Not because the of market alternatives are more expensive.

Besides the only cat classes that are worth their salt internationally are overwhelmingly open rule classes :

Tornado
A-class
Formula 18
Maxi-cat
ORMA tris/cats

Only exception being the Hobie 16's

There is a reason for that and it is not that people like paying more.

Wouter