I have been sailing my 18 for 20 years with no problems.I recently ran into an OLDER (1.5 yrs.) cat forum that brought up the possibility of the hulls splitting or shrouds breaking out of the hulls.My TheMightyHobie18 is a 1986.Should I be aware of any potential problems with that year boat? Thanks!

On any boat with age, stress fractures are a concern. Keep an eye on the bow section just forward of the main beam for any minor cracks and watch the shroud connections for any signs of movement. I've seen a Hobie 18 fold up a hull just forward of the main beam (and seen older Nacras do the same).

There were known problems starting '84 and lasting for a few years. Look for cracks/ separation at the front and rear crossbars. The cracks usually start at the bolt hole and radiate front and back. Look up under the deck lip, both sides of the hull.

There's the possibility of those things happening to any boat, that's why maintenance and inspection are important. I'm not aware of any specific hull weaknesses in that vintage 18 other than the chainplate anchor points and the hull/deck seam near the crossbars, they were built pretty tough tough. Check the hulls and crossbars for cracks and deformation and cracks around the crossbars.

As far as the rigging...change it out every 5 years at least, no matter what. Starting at the anchor pins, and moving up to the mast tang, replace everything in between. Hobie recommends a shorter interval. Of course if you see any damage to any of the wires, replace them. Corrosion starts from the inside of the roller swages and you can't see it until a crack develops at which time the fitting is considerably weakened.

Anchor pins are critical replacement items!!!

Whatever you do, don't buy used rigging off of ebay. There have been a rash of dismastings here locally by people that got a "deal" on rigging. Go to your local Hobie dealer for rigging, it will be considerably less expensive than having it custom built at a rigging shop, and they have all the proper specs at the factory.

Good rigging on the older 18's is probably the most important maintenance item. Like I said before the 18's are pretty tough!!

Hope that helps.

Hi Grandpa,

Ken Marshacks advice is spot on. Starting in June 84'(I believe)to sometime in 86' the "Red Foam" hulls were produced. To determine if you have these hulls look closely at the lip/gunwale, if there is a thin red line down the middle .... for further comformation take a flashlight and a small mirror, and looking through the porthole inspect at the joint (inside) between the hull cap/top and the hull bottom. If you see what looks like "red" foam/caulking ...

Know follow Ken's advice by inspecting the underside of the gunwales for long longitudinal cracks at the bolt holes. With the palm of your hand "feel" the hull just in front of the crossbar, does it feel flat or are there whipples. If you have whipples it is because the bows are towing in under load.

How to fix: DO NOT use a mainsheet stack of a ratio of greater then 6x1, the 7x1 stack can generate enough force to cause the bows to tow in and eventually cause failure. On my origonal red foam hulls I could go "block to block" with the 7x1 stack and guess what eventually happened ...

You should reinforce the crossbar cradles, and shroud anchor points on the inside with some additional layers of cloth and epoxy (WEST System) following all the standard practices. And add the retrokit crossbar/shroud anchor support plates, they are available through your Hobie dealer at a reduced price for this. I believe you will have to supply serial #'s to receive this deal

My E-mail address is in my profile, please feel free to contact me with any questions and I will happily share my experience with you.

Quote: "Most men learn from their own mistakes, I on the other hand prefer to learn from OTHER mens mistakes." Bismark. ( I think it is also cheaper)

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
HarryMurphey
H-18mag/ #9458, Fleet 54 Div 11
P-19mx/ #86, CRAC

******WARNING***** The shroud attachment points are prone to failures on the TheMightyHobie18! It's an easy fix though... examine the stainless eyebolt fitting (which connects to the chain plate) that passes through the outer hull lip and threads into a round piece of stainless with a tapped hole. The threaded eyebolt sometimes developes cracks within the valleys of the threads that exist between the rod and the lip of the hull. CHECK OFTEN AND CAREFULLY!

There is a thread on Hobiecat.com/community/forum, h-18:h18sx, several weeks ago that discussed the Anchor Bolts issues. Please go and read those posts

HarryMurphey
H18mag/ #9458, Fleet54/Div 11
P19mx/ #86, CRAC

As you stated, you boat is over 20 years old. Any type of equipment that age requires inspection and maintance to keep in good working order. It would probably be a good idea to give the entire boat a through inspection if you haven't done so recently. Maybe even take it entirely apart so that you can look at the hulls and crossbars in detail.

There were issues with some of the 18s from around 1985. The hulls failed at the front cross bar connection. I suspect that if your hull hasn't failed by now, you're probably ok. But, be sure that you have the upgraded hull flange reinforcements which bolt directly into the side of the hull. These go both at the front cross bar and shroud connection points. There is also a fiberglass reinforcement procedure that is described in detail on the Hobie Cat forum. Check the underside of the flange (lip) for cracking. Also, check the decks for soft spots and repair if necessary.

Also, as others have said, replace your shrouds and shroud anchor bolts. If you're still using the originals, you are well overdue.

sm

Here's a relatively in depth discussion on adding shroud anchor plates at the front and rear beams

http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=8060&highlight=anchor

More/older posts are available on the Hobie site via the search function.

Quote "the best lessons learned are expensive, painful and humiliating" Jason's Dad <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

A few Hobie 18 facts...

The shroud anchor area -

This issue was from first production till early 80's. A stainless part was designed to distribute loads down the hull's side wall. This took loads directly off of the lip. This part (shroud anchor plate) has 4 bolts in an arch below the lip.

There have been no further problems at the rail area due to shroud anchor since that time.

Crossbar rail area -

Crossbar rail area racking issues began in 1984 when the company lowered the weight of the boat. The specific reason for cracking is that an inner reinforcement patch was narrowed (to reduce material usage / weight). The hulls were not fully bullet proof again until about 1989 when a larger inner patch was added in the post-glue stage (after the deck was glued on). This larger patch fully connected the deck to side walls inboard and outboard below the forward crossbar, from the inside. Earlier, a retrofit plate kit (same as the shroud anchor plates) was tried inboard and outboard of the front crossbar. This became standard in production followed by the patch in '89.

If you have an '84 to '89 hull (without the before mentioned patch and plates) I would suggest adding the internal patch and installing the crossbar plate kit. If you have wings... I would add a hatch in the transom /deck area and add the patches and plates there as well. This should protect the boat from the dreaded cross bar cracking issues.

I dropped the mast on an 18 when the shroud anchor pin/bolt broke. Fortunately all the kids were on the windward side when it went... If your pins are old, replace 'em!

I had allot of "slop" in my TheMightyHobie18 hulls last season. At one point I used about 15 "custom" rivets on my rear beam to help secure it and reduce play.

I did inspect and tighten the bolts (often) that secure the beams to the hulls. At last inspection 1 rear bolt had completely fallen out. This certainly didn’t help with the “Hobie wobble” in my hulls.

We ended up removing the rear beam and then found out I had stress fractures at the bolt holes on the beam. They were completely hidden and only found when the beam was removed.

A quick run to the alum welder and $75 fixed the situation. That is until I realized he had sanded off some rivets that hold the anchor (a big slug in the beam that anchors the hull/beam bolts) inside the rear beam off... 1 problem fixed 1 new problem to handle).

It sailed my 1985 TheMightyHobie18 about 100 days last year (and same for the year before that). I flew the hull at every chance, and did use Harkin, ratchamatic 7 to 1's. I never complained about service or maintaining the boat (even when I broke shroud anchor bolt and demasted)... I certainly got my moneys worth out of that boat and hope it treats its new owner as well as it did me.

Hey Guys,

Please go back and review the last several post in the thread "Quick Pins"(mid Jan 08). There is a post w/picture of a Classic Anchor Bolt Failure. And several posts discussing clevis pins vs quick pins vs shackles.

Grandpap, you may find some useful ideas there, Ok. (Took me several days to remember where those posts were and search them out)

Sail Flat, Sail Fast
HarryMurphey
H-18mag/#9458, Fleet54/Div11
P-19mx/ #86, CRAC

Yes, 7:1 would be standard on the Hobie 18 and not a concern.

The shroud anchor pin is the same for all models. We changed to a rolled thread several years ago to reduce the possibility of a thread cutting process creating a problem. The breaking strength is greatly improved.

My TheMightyHobie18 is from 1978. Probably one of the first several hundred made. Should I be worried about any of this?

D. Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

Not the hull issues but if your chainplates are original I would definatley spend the 20 bucks to replace them.

Check the shroud anchor plate as described earlier. Be sure you have the plate with 4 bolts below the shround anchor area.

[quote The shroud anchor pin is the same for all models. We changed to a rolled thread several years ago to reduce the possibility of a thread cutting process creating a problem. The breaking strength is greatly improved. [/quote]

Matt,
Having sailed a Hobie 18 since 1980, including but not limited to a 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, and my current boat, a 2004, picked up from the Dealer in October of 2003, the same week the announcement was made that the boat was being discontinued, I have a fair perspective on the 18, and its pattern failures.
That having been said, this year, for the first time I experienced a catastrophic failure of the shroud anchor pin on my 2004. Sadly it was on the starting line at the NAC event in New York. Thanks to outstanding help from the support safety boat, the beach captain, and the generosity of Matt Bounds who allowed me to rob one off of his H-16 that was sitting on the beach, we were able to reassemble my boat and make it out for the next race.
Given the fact that I was racing within 5# of minimum weight, the wind and wave conditions that day were not by any stretch of the imagination "extreme" also the boat has only been sailed in salt water one time, and is stored inside a heated garage, that you may have a little more work to do on that particular piece of hardware.

Respectfully,
Stephen