Hows teh price on this Hobie?

I would like to play "the price is right" game with all of you.
The boat I'm looking at is a 1981
The good
Boat has been garage kept until Jan 2005, After that the boat has been tarp covered,
the hulls and decks are solid NO soft spots
ALL the stainless have been replaced
"Hot stick" tiller
Blue Mesh Tramp less than 1yr old.

The bad?
Aluminum Mast
plastic rudders
Paint appears to be Chipping
Sails need replacing If I want to race
non harken or 6:1 blocks,

The Trailer
Has New bearings but needs new tires

Total Package priced at $1500 does this sound like a good price?

Keying on "If I want to race"

You'll need a comp-tip. You'll want fiberglass or EPO rudders, as you say sails, 6:1 blocks and maybe diffrent jib cleating system, a downhaul system, does it have double trapeze?

The "Paint appears to be Chipping" and you mentioned it had been kept in a gargage? This worries me. This particular model year seems to typically be more durable (and heavier), why would the boat have been painted?

I won't say it's a good or bad deal, but if you want to race, you'll be spending more money on this boat for what may not be as competitive as a newer, lighter boat.

_________________
hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

The gentleman who is selling me the boat (by the way is a friend) has owned the boat since it was new and said it was never "painted". I have never seen anything "chipping" I iwll try to get a picture of the chipping this week so that fellow hobie sailors may Identify the problem.

No Traps, I did forget to mention that.
Thanks,
Andre

Here's a datapoint for you for what its worth. Two years ago I paid $1500 for a 1988 H16 with the following:
comptip mast
single trap (since replaced)
Harken 6:1
Hot Stick
plastic rudders
solid hulls
original vinyl tramp (good condition)
trailer in good condition (since replaced lights, bearings, tires)

I sold a 1986 H16 about in 2003 for $2300 with the following

-Original sails
-New Main in 2001
-New jib in 2002
-All new running rigging 2002
-All new standing rigging 2001
-Harken 6:1 Main
-Dual traps w/ skippers seats
-Trentec jib cars
-Comptip
-Hotstick
-New rudders in 2001 (with one old racing rudder as spare)
-Goosneck bearing in 2001
-Miracle 20 tiller crossbar upgrade
-Neoprene rail rug
-Tramp new around 1995

There were some other things I don't remember right now. It was also on a trailer, but I couldn't charge anyone for that trailer so I included it for nothing since it had maybe one season left before I was going to trash it.

The hulls were in great shape and there were not soft spots. I hated to sell her, butI needed the money to fix up my H18 I accidentally bought (long story).

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Nick,

I love that statemant, it hits home with me, I "accidentally" bought five boats last year, one is trash (eBay), the unimaran and one Hobie were sold.

BOAT = Bust Out Another Thousand.

Andre,

If you're passionate about the boat get it. Offer him less than what he's asking, you may be suprised at his response. With boats, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They give boats feminine names for a reason.

_________________
hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Nick,

You can't just leave us hanging like that, let's hear that long story.[/quote]

OK, Here it is.

I had just finished "tricking" out my H16. I had everything I wanted on it. Then I noticed that my trailer was... probably not street legal. So, I decided my next purhcase would be a trailer. As we all know a new H16 trailer, painted and galvo, are about $1000. USed ones are hard to come by. So, after a few months of searching I came across this H18 on a trailer for $1000. Since I really needed the trailer I decided that I can probably sell the boat and get my money back.

After I brought home my new trailer with a relly nice "accessory" I decided to take the H18 for a spin. I really liked it. I decided to keep it. Now I have one good trailer and two boats and now where to store the extra boat. So, I ended up selling the H16 on the special trailer and usig the money to put into the H18. After a year of saltwater launches the "new" trailer really started to go so I ended up buying a Trailex to replace the "new" trailer. I now had this great trailer and a boat that was in good shape but needed some updating. I have been slowly improving the boat for 3 years now. Every year I put a little more into it.

And that is how I accidentally bought a boat. Somehow my original plan of selling the H18 to pay for the cost of the "new" trailer ended up costing me more money. Fortunatly I was single at the time and did not have to explain that one.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

So, Nick, got any tips for us on how to explain boat expenses to the wife?

I didn't have a wife at the time. That will happen later this summer. I got lucky, she like to sail on the Hobie so it's not too hard to convince her we really need something. As long as I tell this will make it easier to fly a hull while you are on the trap she will give me the OK.

But, My favorite maneouver is to save up double the money you need, let her do something nice for herself spending only half of the saved money, then take the rest of the money and do your thing. This has seemed to work out amongst many of my friends. I guess I'll find out just how it will work for me this year...

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I'm jealous of you guys who marry Hobie women. I have to use the lame excuse that she's lucky I don't spend my money on illegal or unhealthy vices - it could be worse. She reluctantly bought it since she, too, has her weaknesses.

I get off pretty easy too...
I just get the look and the question "what is it that you REALLY NEED now?" with sarcasm

She is understanding, but by no means a hobie girl...

Luke

The pricing... not sure if this hot deal. I do not think that this would be a good boat for racing. first the weight issue that can not be fixed. On the other hand you would dump > $2000.00 in the thing to get sails, rudder blades, a comptip and harken 6:1, and a couple of other bits and pieces.
I would recommend to spend those 3.5k towards some boat that is from the 90's.

Hobie Girl ... hmmm, not that I get a lot of grief with from my wife regarding the sailing, but the kind of sailing we do is actually the low dollar kid of boating. We might have to remind the ladies on that aspect every once in a while if we get in trouble.

Patrick

I did meet my wife to be after I had the boat(s). So, she knows what she is getting into

I'm lucky she actually likes it. She was on the fence until I forced her to hike out on the trap on 15 kts day. Now, she won't go unless she can fly a hull from the trap.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Well, I'll ask the opposite question. I have an '81 H16 that has probably been sailed 10-15 times in its life. It has triple trap,triler with new bearings,tires, and lights, Harken 6:1, carbon hiking stick, newer sails that are practically virgin, decent tramp but not perfect nad new halyards.

The bad:
plastic rudders (that aren't quite perfect)
aluminum mast
tramp isn't awesome

What's a fair price? I'm thinking 2200 is fair for everyone.

What about you guys?

_________________
"I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less." Augustus 'Gus' McCrae