I'm a powerboat guy looking to pick-up an H16 for my 13 and 16 year olds kids to learn to sail on. I live in NC and someone at Myrtle Beach SC has an 82' they're willing to sell for $1,700 and I have no idea if this is a fair price. Here is the description:

Great Condition, located in Myrtle Beach, SC. No soft spots, very solid. Yellow hulls with black pin strips. Very nice black mesh trampoline with hiking straps and a haylard pocket. Shroud lines recently replaced. Trailer in good condition. Sails are in excellent condition as well. One of the nicest '82 Hobies you'll find, ready to go sailing today!

Is 1,700 a fair price for an 82' in good condition with trailer?

What questions should I be asking?

Thanks!!!
bradesp

i paid $1000 for my '81 after a long search. i replaced the tired tramp with black mesh ($300) and reglassed the bottoms of the hulls which were pretty thin from being dragged on the beach. i replaced several batten pocket protectors- their condition is a pretty good indicator of the overall condition of the sails- and repaired the jib which had torn loose from the jib luff wire at the top. the main sail bolt rope was starting to tear away from the sail near the bottom. if the boat you are looking at is in fact in very good condition with good sails (no repairs needed) solid hulls ( no soft areas especially in front of the front pylons)new rigging and not much wear on the bottoms its probably worth $1700. desirable extras include an adjustable tiller extension and 6:1 low profile mainsheet system. good luck!

Here is what I found when I was going through the same decision making process. It's a great checklist for ALL cats....
http://206.176.210.95:8109/../catamaran.asp

Check it out. For what it's worth I think the price is kinda high for a 1982. I wouldn't pay it but that is just me perhaps....

Good luck, Greg

I got mine for $700 - what I got was a '85 with galvanized trailer, Hotstick, Harken 6:1, double trap wires, a tramp the was good for one more season, good sails, bad cortage, faded / oxidized but solid hulls. Besides the main and jib sheet I could have sailed it the next day. - Patrick

What is "bad cortage" and do badly oxidixed hulls matter if I'm just planning on doing recreational sailing?

Thanks!

brad

I think they mean cordage. That is the ropes (sheets, halyards etc.). The badly oxidized hulls can be buffed up with a lettle elbow grease. Really bad ones need rubbing compound. Really Really bad ones maybe some 800 grit wetsanding. Do you have to? No. But it makes it look better. A lot better. Another thread talked about Penetrol (I bought some at Home Depot yesterday) to make fibreglass look better and I want to try that myself.

yoh! this is what I had in mind... My main sheet was at least a 1/2 inch thick and did not run well through the blocks... most of my other lines were pretty dead from sitting out side... Oxidized epoxy... hmmm who cares! All the buffing, rubbing and painting is kind of wasted time... besides cosmetics it does not anything for you.

Patrick

I recently purchased an 83' H 16 for $250 with semi-new trailer. Boat is in good con. with few minor repairs to hulls and no boom. All new equip. was necessary including boom, sails, tramp, blocks and a long list of little stuff. Overhauling is fun, but I would have much rather been sailing these last two months. I'll end up spending close to $2000 for everything. Sounds like you've found a pretty good deal.

It sounds like the trailer was worth the $250 by itself. When I was looking for a used Hobie 16 (20 years ago) I found that they were holding their value and I ended up with a new one instead ($4300 with trailer). I never regretted it. I know the price of a new one has gone up where it is prohibitive. Sailboards seemed to cut into the Hobie market for a while (when Hobies got too expensive) and the quantity of 16s around eventually brought the used price down. Keep your eyes open as you ride around and you will be surprised where you find them. Look for the best condition boat you can afford or as said in the above post you end up working when you want to be sailing.

Howard