Save me from myself ... Hobie 18 ideas.

I picked up a 1984 Hobie 18 complete with a new set of sails and a working trailer for $400 at an auction to benefit junior sailing. I'd hade just given them the money, but I got a boat out of it ... sort of.

The decks are soft ... they need the standard Hobie Deck fix ... no biggy I can handle that.

Big problem is the dagger boards are missing, and over the last 24 years someone replaced a rudderhead and rudder. The castings are correct, one is silver, the other is/was black, but one rudder blade is wrong and is loose in the head.

Mast and standing rigging are ok, it is the original non-comptip mast. There are some bits and pieces missing, like the jib floating blocks, but mostly the bits are ok.

What shall I do with it? Is it worth the price of a rudder and two daggerboards that are the minimum to get it sailing?

Am I better off just towing the whole mess to the dump and looking for a complete boat?

 

Just get some cedar and glass and make up some blades if the original parts are to pricey --- should be able to get it sailing for a few $$$, and what does it matter... LOL, you can prolly make better blades than the Hobie originals! Sails are good thats normally the biggy.

 

Randy,

You're within a few bucks, or a few hours work, of having a working boat with correct parts. Will you be able to deal with the cold water up there.... that's the real question. ;-)

If you don't already know about this, try these two sites for used parts to fit out the boat correctly.

http://www.catsailor.com/
http://www.thebeachcats.com/

I also have a friend here in town who turns a few coins on scrapped beach cats which he parts out and if you give me a tight list, I'll run it past him.

Chris

 

LOL ... The only reason I considered the boat at all is that I keep it in Mexico. 12-16 knot sea breeze and 70-80 deg water in Banderas Bay. I'm way too old to start sailing beach cats in BC!

MB, it has been awhile but I used to build foam core RC sailplane wings. You are right, I can probably build foils. For some reason I just had it in my head that I didn't want to. Phils Foils quoted me $1500 for a pair of custom boards.

Building new foils will certainly be must less work than using the hulls as a base for a trimaran conversion.

What I really want is trimaran version of a J22 type boat. The Corsair Sprint 750 is ok, but it is a $60,000+ boat and has other issues. The Cross 18 is a beauty. (you know I like the look of Cross boats).

 

The original Hobie 18 boards were not too great, design wise. I'm sure you can do a lot better yourself if you can't find a set of old used ones.

The 18s were awfully heavy things.

Check to see if you can loosen/tighten the crossarm allen bolts. The 18s had a bad rep for the nylock nut inside the beam really locking the bolt, making it impossible to dismount the hulls. You'll need the Dremel tool to fix that, along with a 3/16" drill bit and some pop rivets. I'm sure the plastic screw that held on the cover plate on the top of the crossbar is long gone by now.

The halyard lock can be a real pain if it is the old metal ring type.


That little tri you show lives on a trailer at my club. The hulls fold down for storage. The photo is taken on the beach adjacent to the club. I've seen the boat in the water at the dock a couple of times, but have never seen it sailing.

 

I don't doubt that!

Roger that.

I haven't tried yet, one cover plate has gone walkabout, and I don't want to break the other 3 until I'm back in Mexico with my tools. Thanks for the heads up on the locking bolt, I fully expect to have to fight every fastener.

LMAO! You've seen my boat!

!?!?! Someone let you join a club?

The Cross boats are some of the prettiest IMO. This one, the 32R and the 45R are all objects of lust for me.