I was trying to be funnieeee, does the crew and or captain have to be Vintage?

also Snoop, welcome aboard, hope you enjoy that new to you H16.

Sam

Mine has all the original hardware, no comp tip. Fairly well worn. If I see other hobies around, I hide. In fact, I'm down to one cleat left on the mast.

My Gcat is original also, and it was a rental. Makes the hobie look like a yacht. It might be ready for the water next spring.

I have a '75. It has white with blue top hulls, original sails in excellent condition, hulls are excellent. Original hardware mostly. I was told at a regatta last weekend that it is a collector Hobie. Is there such a thing? I was fixing to add all the latest stuff to it like comp tip, gudgeons, traps, stays...etc. Should I leave it orginal?

Depends. Do you want a Plastic Classic or do you want to race? If you want to race, will the investment in upgrades eventually be more than what the boat is worth? And, will the investment in upgrades boost the performance to be able to compete with newer boats?

What is the disavantage of an older boat for racing besides dated hardware? Are they heavier or something?

Manufacturing processes have changed over the years that resulted in lighter hulls. The red glue models were so light the factory was putting lead weights in the forward pylons. The few who discovered that little trick simply pulled the foam plug out and removed the lead.

If you have an older boat that is close to minimum weight, go with it. Next step is make sure the crossbars are not flexing as the pop rivets will wear. Replace them as needed. Then it's time for new hardware. I'd do the following.

New sails - They get blown out. Period. It's amazing how your boat speed will improve. There's a number of schools of thought on where to place tell tales. Once you decide on the best location for you, have windows installed.

Harken low profile blocks for the main sheets.

Aussie 3:1 jib halyard.

Jib outhaul system.

Double trap setup if you don't already have one. Don't use dogbone rings unless you like getting hit in the face.

Forestay bridle fly. An excellent tool when reaching.

Up until recently I think I may have had one of the oldest hobie 16 to still be sailing. It has no evidence of hull numbers, but has the number 643 on the pylons.

Unfortunately due to an incident last year I now am the proud owner of two halves of a hobie cat as the pylons on the port side broke (untold years of corrosion) and the port hull parted company from the rest of the boat.

Luckily this occured a mere 200 metres from the boat ramp, but it was still slighly embarrasing given the number of spectators and was potentially much more serious had I been further out to sea at the time.

Oddly enough I have been unable to locate a broken Hobie 14 mast to donate mast section for new pylons, so I am getting new ones made by some engineers and will attempt to glass them in.

Anybody have any suggestions?

May not be entirely class legal but she will sail again...

I've got the top section of my 14's mast (cut off to install CompTip). All you had to do to find stuff like that is to put a post here.

I've got a piece of 16 mast from a Comp Tip install waiting for a project. Your's may be it.

Do you want it?

Jack

Thanks Jack, but i dont think it would fit. The corner castings for the tramp are made to fit to a hobie 14 mast which is smaller than the Hobie 16. There are lots of ways it could be modified to fit but they would all require extensive fabrication. I have gotten suggestions from making one out of wood, fibreglass, carbon fibre, stainless steel etc.

I spoke to the hobie company and they believe that it is not possible to replace them, after trying to remove the remains of the old ones i was inclined to agree but when my new pylons have been fabricated i intend to just glass them back into the hull.

It probably isnt going to be pretty.

Thanks for the offer...

Ben

Speaking of vintage hobies, when I was just a kid back in the 70's, my dad bought a brand new 16 #44726. Yellow hulls with a scripted name "Lollypop" painted boldly on each side. He sailed the boat extesively at the Hobie beach in Sandy Hook, NJ in the late 70's and early 80's. The boat was sold in the early 80's. I would love to find out what happened to it. Any one here ever seen, or know of the boat?

I am starting to get a little confused :-s about the ages of hobie 16s based on hull numbers/sail numbers.

The boat i broke in half had the sail number 19,017 but came with an older looking mainsail. It had the number 643 stamped on the pylons but i am beginning to believe these numbers may be batch numbers for the aluminium mast section or something. Just bought another hobie with painted hulls (going to scratch off the paint and try to find hull numbers) and a number in the 22xx range on the REAR pylons. Sail number is 80something thousand or so, cant remember right now.

I know sail numbers are batched by area and aren't necessarily in chronological order. Anyone know how to age the hulls without resorting to cutting them in half and counting the rings?

Ben

Ben,

Don't be confused by the sail numbers. Many classes assign sail numbers that correspond with the boat and when new sails are purchased the original sail number is used. This is not the case with Hobies.

Here's the link for hull identification

That "older looking" mainsail ... what sailmaker's patch is on the sail .... it wouldn't happen to be McGibbons????

First sailmaker????, then McGibbons, then West Coast Catamaran, then "Hobie"

Most sails produced buy the Hobie Factory are numbered sequencely ... only a few crazy nuts like me order "No Number" sails and install/carry over our old numbers to our new sails.

My first cat purchased in 1983 ... 1971 trailer title, H16 White hulls/Blue decks ... White and Blue (alternating)Mainsail w/ McGibbons sailmaker's patch, Sail# 572 .... I could never find a serial number on the hulls ....

HarryMurphey
TheMightyHobie18/#9458, Fleet 54/Div11

Correction:

First H16 sailmaker-McKibbons (to approximently 1974), then "Coast Catamaran", then "Hobie"

Harry

Anybody care to help me determine the age/vintage of my H16?
I really do need some help with this.

The only thing I can find is the number 389 stamped into the forward pylons. The crossbar is also stamped infront of the ss tracks with the numbers 0 (nearest the mast) thru 8 (outermost point of the track) I imagine for setting jib travelers)

That is your hull number and it was built in 1971.

Jeez! So, does that make me the winner/loser of the vintage cat? No wait I saw a lower three digit number...

Wow, a '71 and the hulls are rock solid. Jack, any ideas on the crossbar markings?

My '72 will qualify - it will certainly be more than 365 lbs!! I hope you are going to allow glued and screwed pylons....