Keith,

More information than I could have hoped for, I use the following when taking on the wild. There are old Hobie people, there are bold Hobie people. There however is no old and bold hobie people.

I after reading Hobies letter, think it may be a hull decay (fiberglass hardening over the years) issue. The hulls have no soft area's and if you think about a hull sitting in the sun all foru seasons for 25
years it may be a possibility. This is undetectable, unless impact testing or stress cracking was performed (not feasible or practical).

I have inspected every screw, bolt etc etc. The only parts that was not salvagable was tramp and rubber gasket material in Plyons.

I have polyurthened the entire hull with 5 coats of primer and finishing coat, no mirco holes will be present at launch.

The configuation of sail you reccommended will be used, as well as safety issues including a buddy on powerboat as backup.

It's going to be like the Model "T" you see in parade, they run but do not go fast due to age.

Many Thanks

Mike