I think you 18 owners are missing the point. Noone (as I read it) was dissing your ride - I think that many of the catsailors on here will have only very fond memories of 18s - the question was is it worth spending more money on the boat?
What does an 18 fetch in the USA? In the UK/EU they seem to run around the equivalent of $1000-$2500. With new hulls will you ever get ANY of that extra money back?
There are surely other options -
1) buy the very best used 18 you can find
2) have the existing hulls professionally refurbed
3) hunt out all those unused/unloved 18s around and cannibalise them to build up the best boats you can as well as a stock of spares.

Some of the 'vintage' dinghy classes in the UK (FD, Hornet, Fireball) have done just that and now have a thriving racing circuit once again. This has the benefit of raising values for existing boats and some people even considering building new boats!
Whatever you guys decide to do - enjoy your sailing.

It’s great to see the Hobie 18 class putting up a fight! The success of any one-design class is certainly a function of how many new boats are produced each year (among many other factors). If you can pull it off this may be the new model for all the other so called dead Hobie classes out there.
Good work and good luck.

Where ?
GOOD Light, solid quality hulls are getting more and more difficult to find
I think you just made the case for spending money on new original Hobie 18 Hulls. And where would you find a class to race in Once again, you are making a good case for buying that "old design" hull called the Original Hobie 18. Nice closing, couldn't have said it any better myself !

From Matt Miller @ Hobie Cat Company:
"Ping... deadline approaching on this offer. Get your orders in to a dealer!"

We have 12 people that committed to new hulls on the Hobie Forum Poll.
I know of 3 orders that have been placed, and am relatively sure about a couple of others.
Please let me know if you have placed your order so we can keep on top of this.

MUST429@aol.com

Orders need to be in to your local Hobie Dealer by the 15th if we hope to have these hulls laid up and here in time for the beginning of the 2010 sailing season.

Original Message:

After some lengthy discussions with Hobie Cat Company, we finally have some hard numbers.

Hobie will make a run of Hobie 18 Hulls if we can get hard commitment from at least 10 buyers.

At this point we are looking at a price for two hulls of $6950.00 plus shipping.

As a one time deal, you can order anything else you may need for the boat, Tramp, Sails, Standing rigging, Rudders, Daggers, whatever, at a 20% discount.

This is a unique opportunity to freshen up your tired old Hobie 18, or to dig one out of a storage yard somewhere and essentially "build" your own "new" Hobie 18.

If you are interested in participating in this unique program/opportunity.
Speak Up NOW.
We need commitments from at least 10 people by the end of the first week in January if we are to get this pulled together in time for a May/June Delivery.

Now that we have hard numbers, we can quantify the true level of interest. I would imagine that at some point, we will need a deposit so that Hobie Cat Company can be assured that they will not end up with a bunch of hulls sitting in the warehouse.

For the time being, I have volunteered to be the liaison between Hobie 18 Owners and Hobie Cat Company as we build interest.

In the interest of keeping inaccurate rumors to a minimum, please direct your questions and interest to me, although, I am sure that at some point you will need to get in touch with a dealer to place an order and make your deposit.

Once we have all the details worked out, and before you actually part with any money, you will all get good accurate and reliable information on how to proceed.

NO part of ANY financial transaction will be handled by me. This will all be handled thru authorized Hobie Dealers Only.

Stephen Cooley
MUST429@aol.com