Want to learn to sail + opportunity to buy 16' w/ trailer

I want to learn to sail. I have an opportunity to purchase a 16 footer with trailer for $800. Needs new trampoline. What are your thoughts on my situation? Below is the ad I found on Craigslist.

https://columbia.craigslist.org/boa/5658231269.html

A Hobie 16 is not the best boat to learn how to sail on. You want something a bit more forgiving.

It's like trying to learn how to drive on a Corvette.

A Hobie Wave would be ideal to learn to sail, but you're not going to find one for $800.

The boat in question looks good in the first photo, no so much in the others. It looks like it's sat under a tree for the last four years.

The jib is original; the main is not (it's from the late '80s). It does look like it needs a new trampoline. $800 is probably the high end for a boat like that with a trailer (which looks to be in good condition).

You'd think that someone trying to sell a boat would at least clean it up, but ?

How much time do you have to put into restoring a boat? That first picture may give you an idea of what it could look like, but the fourth is a view of where it is currently. It needs time and resources. If you have a fair amount of time on weekends and weeknights, and can find some people nearby that have some experience with Hobie Cats, then this may be a great project for you. It took me several months to get my Hobie 16 project boat to be sail-able. And it still takes up a fair amount of the time I used to dedicate towards more "productive" projects. I do really enjoy working on the boat, though, and that helps. And that's good because with a 30+ year old boat, there is a a fair amount of maintenance that needs to go into keeping it up and running.

The hulls are the most critical part of the boat. There should be no soft spots. Do a search on this forum for "hulls" and you'll get a sense for how to check for soft spots.

And you should probably look at the 2016 Hobie sailing catalog to price out new parts. It can be prohibitively expensive. I took a friend's advice, and bought a boat for $500 and another for $20, and used the parts from both to make one sail-able boat. And for the parts that aren't great on either boat, you can buy those new.

Matt's right about the difficulty of learning to sail on an H16. He said it's like learning to drive on a Corvette, but I'd say it's more like learning to ride a bike on a cool looking unicycle. It's not rocket science, but there are easier options.

Pat
'78 H16

If I was learning to sail, and wanted a boat with a good community and easily accessible parts for repairs, and had $800 to spend on a boat of choice, I would suggest a laser or a sunfish as a great first boat. Easy to rig up/take down, small (in some states, small enough you don't even have to register it), good communities for repairs, and both boats can be used long term if you want to get into serious racing. The boat is also easy to right if you capsize. With only one sail, they are un-complicated boats. Their small size also makes them travel easily, and you can typically fit at least one other person on board.

On a scale of boats, I'd would disagree with the others who have said a hobie 16 is a bad boat to learn on. I think it's a good boat to learn on, but not a great boat to learn on. There are far worse boats to learn to sail on, such as larger keelboats. I will agree that it's unforgiving for a boat though, but you will learn quick because of it being unforgiving. Once you've capsized in all 4 directions... you learn how to prevent each one because righting the boat can get tiring.

I bought my H16 because I wanted to learn to sail. I has worked wonderfully for that. Just be careful the first few time out to not get into wind that will get you going too fast and start in calm waters where you can get yourself out of trouble when you flip. I DREADED flipping it at first. Now, I laugh and enjoy the chaos.

One thing I will say is that you can get a good, ready to sail H16 for $800. I did. It didn't come with a trailer, but I didn't need one. Now that I enjoy going to races, I have a trailer. Getting one that isn't complete and ready to go is expensive. Parts are expensive, but the good news is that EVERYTHING is still available and supported, and some parts you can get used at giveaway pricing if you get in with the right group of people. Since buying my boat, I have made upgrades, all of them mostly to go faster, and have spent far more than I would have if I had gotten a newer one, but now I know my boat VERY well.

Enjoy it!

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

I'd go for it if you could get it for a couple hundred less. I've gotten 10 people to buy a hobie 16 after a quick 30 min sail and demo at our sail club, most of them sail solo. Its inland lakes usually around 10 mph winds on any given day, super easy and fun. Find a local hobie sailor in your area if you can, you'll catch on quickly!

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Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.

I think a H16 is a good boat to learn on. When I got my first H16 I was in high school and knew a little about sailing but was no expert. As long as you sail inland lakes in reasonable conditions until you get experience I think it is a good place to start. Tacking can be tricky, but you will figure it out.

As others suggested, find someone else in the area that sails a 16 and try to go out with them. Most Hobie sailers are very friendly and helpful.

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Scott
Hobie 18 w/wings
Hobie/Holder 12 Funseeker
2 Hobie Waves
Tandem Oasis Kayak
Hobie 16
Southern California

Where are you located? I see the craigslist ad is near Columbia, SC. If you are in that area there is a relatively active group of catamaran sailors that sail on Murray, Wateree, and Keowee. You can see their schedule here: http://www.emsa-sailing.org/schedule/

I'd try to get in touch with them. They aren't all necessarily hobie sailors, but there are a lot of experienced and friendly catamaran guys their that I feel sure would be willing to help you out with learning to sail or finding a nice boat. There is also the Columbia Sailing Club located on Lake Murray.

I'm located in NC and typically sail on Lake Waccamaw. I'm also a member of the sailing club there. It's about 2 1/2 hours from Columbia, but I'd be happy to take you out on my 16 if you wanted to make the trip one weekend. The winds are usually pretty good there, so you could get an idea of what you'd be in for with a Hobie 16. We also have open Portsmouth racing at the club every 4th Saturday and we are hosting our annual Indian Summer Regatta October 8-9 which is open to all catamarans and shallow draft keel boats. Just shoot me a pm if you're interested.

As far as a Hobie 16 being your first boat, I'd say it can be done... but be prepared for a huge learning curve. I speak from experience here. I bought mine with virtually no sailing experience and no real mentors other than the internet in 2002 or so. There were many frustrating days trying to figure out how to rig the boat correctly, days when figuring out how to make a catamaran tack completely eluded me, windy days when I just couldn't keep the pointy end up, and confusion as to how the boat responded when things needed to happen fast. Not only are 16's much faster than most comparable sized mono hulls, the response time required to make adjustments is also significantly faster. Add in waves and currents and that's a whole other ballgame. It took me several years before I could finally say I felt comfortable sailing her in the majority of conditions I could expect to find. My learning grew exponentially when I finally met some friendly cat sailors that were really generous in sharing their knowledge a few years into learning, and I started showing up at regattas.

I don't write any of this to discourage you, as I loved every minute of working out the kinks with my 16. The hobie 16 is a great teacher, but she'll give you your licks while doing it.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

What are we, Generation Z?!?!?! You can do it!

The reason that you will find most Hobie 16 sailors (and most small catamaran sailors) so willing to help you out and friendly is that there is a certain madness needed to really embrace this kind of fun. The more people we can get to hop on the bandwagon, the more it justifies our decisions to keep doing it. Also, the more of us there are, the bigger the racing crowd gets, and that is a real blast!

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"