Hobie Cat Forums

any update on the selection? When are decisions to be made?

By the way, I am going to have to google this Enrique Figuroea fellow. You all seem to hold him in pretty high esteem.

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Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"

There is/was a daily blog set up for the evaluations here:http://2016equipmentevaluation.wordpress.com/

The "final" decision on equipment is supposed to be made at the ISAF mid-year meeting in May. I put final in quotes because it's almost certain to face objections, no matter what is chosen.

As for the results of the evaluation? It's hard to tell with each camp spinning their own tale of superiority, and in the case of the Tornado Class, complaining the the crew weight restrictions were patently unfair. The F16 Viper seems to have done well, as did the Nacra 17.

There was remarkably little news about either the H16 or Tiger, both of which are considered to be outdated designs - certainly in comparison to the F16s and Nacra 17. There was only one picture of the H16 with the crew on the trapeze:

Not so sure we will have to worry about the Hobie 16 as an Olympic Class.It got roasted pretty good by the sailors evaluation.Pretty tough critics as they also found flaws with the Tornado,SpitFire and Tiger.
Overall they found the 16 Hard to sail ,yet not challeging enough for Olympic Competition.I think that is what a lot of Sailors thought about the Laser,yet it has worked out pretty well.

I usually keep quite on these issues but Hobie US is missing the boat on the spin for the H16. It adds a new dimension to downwind sailing and its fun. Fun is the Hobie way of life. Adding a spin only cost less the 2k and beats buying a N or V at 20k today.

TW

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Tom Whitehurst

I have to admit, I sailed with Ringo on his old H16 with a spin and it was crazy fun. Too bad he sold it and is now sailing his Falcon F16...

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-Zach
West Lafayette, IN (school)
Melbourne, FL (summer)

It's not Hobie US that's "missing the boat" - it's the Hobie Class Association in North America that's adamantly opposed to splitting the Hobie 16 class.

This kind of thing has been done before with disastrous results - how many Hobie 14 Turbos or 18 Magnum / SXs do you see racing today? Zero.

For recreational sailing, fine - go do whatever you want to your boat. But when it comes to racing, the spinnaker comes off.

The Spi issue is a very complex one that keeps rearing it's head.It is a catch 22,by adding a Spi is it going to fragment the Claass (most certainly)?
Is it going to make the 16 a more attractive choice for youths (probably)?
Can it be done succesfully,maybe look at the Scow Class (I forget which one A,E...) they have added a Spi and seem to have rejovanated there Class (short term).
I think it is an issue that as a Class we cannott keep sweeping under the carpet,or say been there done that.We need to keep re- evaluating our posistion on this to see what is going to be good for the Class long term.

It was the E-Scow. They went from a symmetrical spinnaker to an asym - a much less drastic change. You've never heard so much howling and whining from class members as when that was going on (2004 to 2006).

A five year old used E-Scow costs $30K+ with a trailer. The spin conversion was a small expense in comparison.

A Hobie 16 spin conversion could represent more than 20% of the cost of the boat.

Good point on the E-Scow situation
My point is never say never,and be receptive to listening to new ideas.
That is why I think the One Design Symposium is such a usefull Event.I have been trying to convince the DN class to send someone.
To me the DN Class is in more trouble,in terms of attracting new members.They are in a reverse situation of us where by they have had so much new inovation they are losing competitors.

Expect to see the Hobie 16 as an Olympic class at the same time that the original Windsurfer becomes the Olympic Sailboard class.

I still enjoy sailing both once in a while, but it's not going to happen.