I can give you the information just send an email to Hullflyer1@netzero.net

I keep my H-18 on a beach from May to October in West MI for $200. The only problem is that it's a hour away from where I live. Nice beach, a few H 16s, H 18s, a trifoiler, & a few Performance Cats. No rotomolded boats, yet.

The one roto-moulded boat wouldn't happen to be a Hobie getaway would it? Delray was the first place I saw one, in 2005.

I would murder anyone I was asked to if I could have a nice safe beach to launch/store my boat at, close to home. Those of you that do be thankfull. Mine sits on the side of the house when its actually warm enough to consider going outside a sensible thing to do.

we're getting off topic. I'll start a new post.

Where are Corsairs built? All Nacra cats are still built in the US.

That is what people in this business are telling people however I have yet to see a single rotomoulded cat in real life apart from a boat show in 1997 I went to (Hobie wave).

10:1 right ? With 2000 multies being produced a year in the USA ? Over 10 years that would make what several thousants rotomoulded boats = more then F18 fleet ? Yet we see the F18's all over the place but hardly any roto's.

I always wondered why that is. Anybody knows ? Surfcity knows maybe ?

I always thought it was because of the resort market renewing their fleets every other year and then just trashing the oldies.

Wouter

Corsair production was moved to Vietnam. Some final assembly (nut and bolt type stuff) may still take place here after shipping. I'm not sure if the company still considers itself US based. If it's US based but manufacturing takes place overseas, does that count?

I thought Nacra was bought by a European group. If they are still manufactured here, does that count as a domestic manufacturer or a foreign one?

Hobie US is domestic, but the Tiger is manufactured overseas. Does Tiger production count in their numbers?

Vectorworks builds Bimarre A-Cats - Italian manufacturer or domestic?

I guess the international aspect was more my question with regards to the article/survey, and whether the interest is in the location and health of the actual manufacturer or the parent company.

I also work part time for the local Hobie dealer in South Florida and the majority of Hobie Getaways and Hobie Waves they order are for export to resorts in South America and the Carribean. I would estimate that 7 out of 10 shipped to South Florida leave the country.

And this has kind of been my experience - I have sailed Waves but only from a rental place. The only ones I have really seen in the "wild" were one at a casual Hobie-14 group I used to race at and on Rick White's trailer rig. On my honeymoon in Virgin Gorda there were a bunch of them at our resort and others (they weren't letting people sail them, said they were waiting for "parts"). I have only seen the Getaway at boat shows and rental places (where I was not allowed to sail it because they didn't think I could handle it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ). Nobody has tried to bring one to our club (they would be welcome) - although somebody did approach with a Bravo (he was welcomed, but advised he might not see much heads up action). I've not seen them on the water where we sail, but that may just be luck of timing. Not Hobie bashing, just curious. I'm still baffled why our local Hobie dealer wants nothing to do with the cat activity in Galesville, but that's another thread...

Nacra Europe did buy Nacra US, but all Nacras are still built in the USA in California. I suppose that would qualify it as a domestic manufacturer.
I'll find out for sure today...

I had a great big response with a summary of the rotomolding process and a list of companies that recycle polyethelene, but it seems to have vanished durring posting.. Either way it looks like polyethylene is recyclable, however costly. I have some time during lunch, since they don't let me work through lunch anymore, that I can use to reserach the environmental impact of roto vs fiber.


With that said, I'd be interested to see some regional sales charts (you know the pretty colored ones) that show the sales in various regions. I suspect the resort areas would see the highest volumes. I've only ever seen them at resorts and the ones that have been sitting on the Hobie dealer's lot. I've only ever seen glass Hobies and one Nacra on the lakes that I frequent.

When my parents went to Jamaica, for their 30th anniversary, they commented on the number of cats just piled up in a small fenced in area on the beach. They then waited 3 hours for a short ride on a Bravo. I honestly think that they replace rather than repair.

Does anyone think the decline in cat purchases and the ensuing production of less new cats might at least in part, be due to the state of the general economy? ie. Less jobs = less money = less toys. And even if you kept your job, rising mortgage rates + rising fuel prices + rising food prices = less disposable income available for toys as well.

It might just be due to economic factors. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

A lot of small boat dealers are having pretty good years so far, and if it's been like this so far the spring and summer will only get better. I know several small boat guys that are having record sale years so far.

One trend that I see is that the big(er) boat sailors are downsizing their racing budget. I just sold a pair of 16's to some Melges 24 sailors that were tired of the expense, finding crew etc. I think as fuel costs increase this trend will continue.

Let's hope the typical new power boat buyer is looking at gasoline prices and thinking about a sailboat instead! One of the reasons I got out of my old J24 was finding 4 crew for racing on weekends got to be such a hassel. People would show up late or not at all, last minute changes, etc. I can only imagine it gets exponetially harder the larger the boat, to say nothing of the cost of feeding them, and their beer budget would by me a new jib!

Tiger is not included in the USA production numbers.

Percentage of sales of roto to rental vs retail?

The majority of the product goes to retail buyers here in the US. South Florida is special in that they supply the resorts as a major part of their business. I would say we likely sell most in the Midwest followed by the North East.

Roto product sells at such a higher rate than the Tiger / F18 that it is hardly a comparison.

Hobie Cat Europe has been slow to sell the rotomolded product, but they are learning. We are seeing a big shift in their focus now as well.

Certainly these boats do not go to regattas or the same sailing sites as racers do, you would not see them in groups, but they are here. The activity in the Hobie forums also says a lot. The Getaway forum is very active.

This may have been discussed at a different time but-
could you make a tiger (or any other high end cat) out of rotomolded plastic? Would it be heavier? Just as expensive?

Roto is less expensive, heavier, flexible and most durable.

Glass is lighter, stiffer, more labor intensive / expensive and most fragile.

They are two very different products.

Hell yes. Gas is killing me, power is killing me, and last week a conversation I had with a small brewery owner in Portland illuminated the fact that hops have gone from $4 a bushel to $40 a bushel in the last year and beer is getting ready to skyrocket in price

I make more money than I ever have in my life but I'm as poor as I've ever been. I can't sell my F18 because I can't afford to replace it. Otherwise, I would have had a new F18 6 months ago. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

It cost me more to fill my lawnmower than the car I had in highschool 11 years ago. Thats a sad statement. Two days ago it cost $113 to fill my pickup. I do that usually once a week, sometimes twice. My other/beater pickup costs almost $60 to fill and that happens about every two weeks. When I go to B.C. for the H17/TheMightyHobie18/Tiger North Americans this summer I figure it will cost close to $2000 in fuel, (IF it goes as high as they're saying). Thats a rediculous amount of money. Right now we do alot of traveling to get to different regatta's, even to get to the local lake is expensive if you live more than 5 miles away. I don't go to movies anymore. It costs about $20 just to get to a decent theatre. When gas was a buck a gallon I'd go see a movie once a week. I go maybe twice a year now.