I've had a '81 hobie for 4 years and last year noticed some pretty rough spots on the boat, so last spring me and the wife decided to repaint the hulls and get new(er) sails. The hulls got painted white, a big improvement over the funky gold/orange they used to be, and any sail color would match if we could find a good set of used sails. I looked for a couple months and found a few reasonable deals on some sails, some aftermarket, some with older color schemes ($600-900 cdn). But the new Hobie sails were a heavier cloth, and I need a stronger sail here in Manitoba, and the colors were appealing, so we went that way. When we put them on the boat I could see what I was missing - what a performance increase! Easier to control the boat, the balance changed a bit, but trimming the sails seemed so much more intuitive now. I don't race, just cruise and thrill ride.

They were almost as expensive as the whole boat, almost $1700 cdn. for the playa del sol colors. They came with clew plates, but be had to use our old battens, and just ordered a few new caps for them. The outhaul is a little short for where it attaches on the boom, and the jib cut is taller/slimmer. I wish I could have gotten away with spending less, but selling the old sails helped, and these new Hobie ones look very nice, very satisfying. I thought about new North sails, but I saw a set used for sale, and they just didn't look as nice (fabric weight?) and the price was not much less. If you're in for $1000cdn anyway, maybe even just get a main one year and a jib the next. I see they changed the main color option for 2005. Don't special order colors, though, the prices are crazy.

Jason
H16

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Last edited by Ngree; 04/11/05 09:37 PM.