Old Hobie Wants New Sails

My 1971 H16 has original sails, I think.



I've been sailing the boat since February, and I'm ready to spring for new sails. It's fun to think about new colors and cuts and materials, and yet the traditionalist in me is saying "just leave it like it is." I can replace the sails with identically-colored (boring?) new ones... but I probably won't; I've replaced the tramp with a bias design, so maybe I'm not as retro as I seem. Would anybody on the forum keep the original cut and color if they were in my shoes?

I'm not a racer (yet), just a day sailor.

Can I get my same sail number (2164) on my new sails?

Rick

Oooooh - a new sail pattern - not on the chart.

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If you order new sails from Hobie, you can get any color cloth you want - as long as they have it in stock.

Fortunately, they have yellow, but it's a brighter color than the original.

You can get any sail number you want, but they don't use the same typeface as the originals. I forget what the original font is, but the new sail number font is ITC Souvenir Medium. You could always make your own numbers out of sticky-back.

If you get your sails from somebody else (Whirlwind?) you can probably get exactly what you want, both color and number wise. Just depends on what's available for colors. check out Sailrite Dacron Cloth

Bottom line - go retro!

you can also make your own sail numbers, designs, logos ect... on a vinal (spelling!) cutter i have one and it can cut some really cool things on lots of different colors!

It would be a beter investment to buy a newer boat and sell yours. You will get newer sails in the deal. Try for a 1984 or newer. You won't believe the difference in performance.

This is more of an antique than a raceboat. I'm tempted to stay close to the original colors and patterns. I think I'm going to send the sails to be cleaned and repaired, as a first step. Money is an issue, too. I just spent my 800th dollar on the whole thing, and as an investment in fun, I've never had a better payback.

The guy on Antiques Roadshow would tell you that the original finish is most desirable. Keep it original to keep it COOL.