Hello,
If memory serves me correctly, the Hobie 18 was the last boat designed by Hobie and Phill. Phill Edwards is quite a talented shaper.
They designed cats for surfing back then. Cats seemed to be designed for speed in moderate wind mostly these days.
When you race one design it doesn't matter if you are racing a wave boat though.
I heard the way that the 14 was shaped was by shaping a hull and testing it on their platform with a control hull on the other side. The new 14 guys could come up with a more racing oriented hull using the same technique. But who wants to spend their free time vacuumebagging in the garage?
Anyway, the 17 has more of a race rocker and was done by the hobiecat design team after Hobie Sr. had retired from the co.