It's true, I've just received the official word from Hobie Cat on the demise of the Hobie 17 and 18.[/b]
I have permission to publish this news, but I'm not sure I should just quote it here, If you don't want to follow the link, the story basically says it's the end of the line for all models of the 17 and 18, and gives a list of the current production models.

I was shocked at first, but then I had to realize that since 1993 when I purchased my used TheMightyHobie18, I have [b]never seen a brand new Hobie 18. If they aren't selling, you can't just store them forever on hope.