There are quite a few opinions in this forum, but so many have very little basis in reality. Many more are simply inspired by some misplaced anger or lack of trust in the Hobie Cat Company… I find that somewhat bizarre and tiresome. I guess it is mostly the “idle minds...” concept, but for many it seems to be some kind of sport and that bothers me. There are a lot of hard working people in this company that truly care about what is going on. Of these, many are active within the Hobie class and other sailing associations and often at their own expense and time. Sorry, but I find it offensive when our efforts are disregarded or disparaged by some posters, so I have to pipe up here.
Fact: Hobie Cat re-introduced the Hobie 17 in support of the Hobie Class Association. Not for some profit driven motive. I am here, I know the issues involved and neither decision was an easy one.
Hobie Cat knew that the 17 Class would continue regardless of whether the boat was being currently produced. There are thousands of 17’s in the marketplace and only a small fraction of them are racing. There would be plenty of used 17s for years and years to come. Hobie Cat would also continue to provide replacement parts for years to come. The timing was simply unfortunate in relation to the Class decision about x-boats. Likely, disconnected from this decision, it would have been a non-issue in these forums.
You would have to understand all of the business factors that are involved to have an informed opinion about Hobie Cat’s motives. Most look at the sales numbers, but just one of the major considerations is materials purchasing and minimum run costs. Hobie Cat has to buy large runs of aluminum and custom stainless parts to make production economical. At the current projected level of sales, Hobie Cat did not think it could justify buying the materials needed to continue production. Only due to the strong input from the Hobie 17 Class sailors, was that decision reversed. Whether this becomes a cost effective decision for Hobie Cat is yet to be seen.
