As many of you know, Mr. & Mrs. Me are switching to multi's and are at the moment leaning towards an F18. We're debating recent vs. new, so my question is how sturdy are the boats? If someone's raced one for a few years, and is selling to buy new, how worn-out is the boat with which they're parting? Aside from obvious wear/tear/damage, anything in particular to look out for? Are some makes stronger than others? Bear in mind this won't be a racing boat for us, at least not for a good bit while we get up to speed on it's handling, so our expectation is we'd be able to happily learn cat sailing on one as-is at the time of purchase. We just want to know about any known issues with F18s that are no longer brand-new, especially if they're coming from an owner that's maintained it well but driven it hard. Thx!
The hulls on F18 boats can take a real pounding out on the water, but are less dent resistant than the older beach cats like Hobie 18s or Hobie 16s and don't take kindly to being dragged up the beach without wheels. Check out the hulls for dents and dings and the very bottom for worn gel coat. With the number of great, well looked after used F18s about at reasonable prices there is no need to buy one that needs a bunch of fairing/gelcoat work.
If you do go for an Inter 18 make sure its not got a carbon mast (they are no longer class legal). A used Nacra F18 is a good bet. The performance differences between boats is small compared to performance differences between sailors.
If a boat has been sailed hard for a few years it may benefit from bedding the cross beams to the hull with epoxy to stiffen it up - or at least check the cross beam bolts are tight.
Chris.
