I sail a 1980 H16, my wife and I both enjoy it for its speed and ease of handling. We sail at a large lake that has hundreds of sailboats, but only a few cats, (Stockton Lake in southwestern Missouri). The problem is there are no sand beaches the shoreline is composed of mostly rocks, and when we beach for a break the rocks are rough on my H16. I was looking at a Hobie Getaway in St. Louis this weekend and I understand that the rotomolded hulls are a lot tougher than the fiberglass of the H16. Does anyone out there know how well they will stand up to being dragged over rocks once in a while?, scratches, dents, gouges etc? Does anyone know how the coloration of the hulls lasts?, stains, sunbleaching, bird droppings etc. Does it pitchpole as easily as an H16? -I watched the video on the Hobie website and it looked like the hulls did not want to bury as much as an H16. They showed it flying a hull-but with only one person aboard- has anyone seen one flying a hull with 2, (350 to 400 lbs total wt) aboard? Is this a good boat?
Any answers are appreciated!!
Thanks, banannahead

There is a getaway for sale near me. The plastic hulls have a few scratches and scrapes on them. While they might be more impact-resistant than fiberglass, I doubt they are more scratch-and-scrape resistant.

The hull shape is definately going to be easier to handle- not nearly as sensitive as the H16. The coolers in the hull are a very cool design, too. I doubt that it is as fast as the H16 though.

The Assymetrical and V-shaped hulls will do much better on bottom impacts than the round hull forms. Just add some more fiberglass to your keel once in a while.

I just sold my Wave, whose hulls were made of the same stuff as the Getaway.
I had been interested in a demo Wave our dealer has which had some cosmetic damage from a power boat prop strike.
I contacted Jacques at Hobie ( their tech guru) and asked him about repair techniques for these roto-molded hulls. I was specifically referring to heat-based plastic welding.
Jacques informed me that these hulls do not lend themselves to this repair.
I can tell you from experience that the material on the outside of the hulls is QUITE soft, and easy to scratch. I am not aware of any method of restoring the original appearance once the scratches have been made.
That said, the inherent "bouncability" of this type of construction would enhance it's ability to survive the sort of major impact that might well hole or even shatter a fiberglass hull.
Bob Cowgill
Cocoa, Florida
E-mail:rcowgill@cfl.rr.com