Hobie Corp... screwwed Dan Flannigan when the port bow of his one /two year old H-16 sheared away at the front corner post while racing at Wildwood NJ. He was a mile off-shore with his 12 year old son on board when this happened, they dragged the pieces/debris through the surf with a jet ski. It was/is obvious that the failure was because if NON WETTING of the surfaces when the hull was assembled. The mast is now bent, the sails are toast and all "Hobie" would do after a year of wrangling is give him one new hull.
If the boat was only one or two years old, it sure would make sense to have it insured...
Not a lawyer, but I think we need a little spin control here, Murph.
How is it the manufacturer's fault that the mast and sails got trashed? "They" dragged it through the surf with a jet ski? No, Hobie Cat wasn't at this event. That would be the host fleet doing the owner a favor and salvaging what is left of the boat. A marine lawyer would have a field day with this (the fleet may be 50% owners of the boat now).
If the sails were trashed, that would be the owner's fault for not securing them properly for a return to shore. Trust me, I've dropped enough masts to know that the sails are fine until the operator does something negligent. Granted, if I had a 12-year old on board in those conditions, I wouldn't have cared about the sails at that point either, but to say it's the manufacturer's fault isn't accurate.
Insurance probably would have handled this either way, but we shouldn't be blaming Hobie Cat for anything other than what was their fault. Of course, it shouldn't have taken a year to work that out either.
Mike
