Is it time??

Wow! 29 pre-registered Hobie 14s for the North American Championship! And it looks like the number will well exceed the 30+ mark by race time. We haven't seen numbers like this since 1986.
This thought came to mind while I was updating parts, etc on my boat: where are all the good used 14s in the US? Certainly there is a group with good boats that will not sell them. Since the used 14 market for good race quality boats is drying up, how do we get good used boats in the states for those looking to enjoy the fun? I have a thought.... Could a dialog between Hobie USA and Hobie EU be started for some good used 14s to be shipped over in the Tiger and whatever else containers? Boats would be available to dealers or already be presold. I can only speak for myself but I would be in the market for a new one and have 2 boats. Chris Wessels and his group in Iowa are doing a fantastic job igniting the 14 resurgency. How can we keep this ball rolling? Are there any dealers with customers looking for the good used 14? Is this feasible?

Bob

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Bob Curry
Master Unirig Sailor

Not something Hobie Cat USA would be interested in I am pretty sure. The only new H14 we have sold (imported from Europe) was a total hassle.

This would have to be a private effort.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Matt - does Steve F. have plugs or molds in AUS? Are there any plugs/molds left in the US?

The only hard part of building 14's is the hulls. Damn near everything else is shared with the 16.

Bob's right - the supply of good racing boats is drying up.

What does a "good used race quality 14" mean???

"good used race quality 14" mean???

No soft spots in the hulls.
Fairly tight metal platform.
No more than 255lbs.

All the other stuff (sail, rudders, tramp, wires) can be bought.

Bob

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Bob Curry
Master Unirig Sailor

That's the hardest criterion to meet. Everything else can be fixed.

Soft spots can be fixed, but it adds weight, which can't be fixed. Soft spots are an immediate DSQ in the search for a good racing 14.

255??? I still lay awake at night and hear the laughter of the Jim Perkins and the rest of the weigh in crew in Syracuse when they hooked my boat up to the scale.
297 is STILL visible on the back of my boat written in black sharpie.

There are no H14 molds in the US. Australia's facility burned down a few years back, so there wouldn't be any old stuff hanging around down there either.

Hobie Cat Europe is the only source I know of.

This question has come up from time to time since we canceled H14 production many, many years ago. I think we have sold just one 14 through France since then as I mentioned.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I too would be interested in purchasing a newer model H14. What about a group order of new hulls? I've already updated everything else on my H14 for the Clear Lake Nationals.....although I still have to backwind the damn thing to tack! I hate that.

But back on topic. Like Bob & Matt were saying, most important is really a good set of light weight hulls. Could we put one large order in for 2007 for a pair of hulls? Maybe Hobie Cat could give us a quote on various qty's say: 10 Sets; 20 Sets; and 30 Sets and then the we could discuss this in Clear Lake.

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Todd Wilson

Sorry guys, we cannot build 14 hulls. No molds. To buy from Europe would be VERY expensive.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Matt,
I think Todd was referring to us purchasing through you at USA hulls from EU.
Bob
Yes, we should discuss this as a group at Clear lake!

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Bob Curry
Master Unirig Sailor

Of the nine or so we have here in Va Beach, I'd say 4 are light and solid, the others are soft. I've probably cut up 25 or so 14s in the 5 years that I have been doing the used parts thing. It is just getting REALLY hard to get good boats!

There was a guy in town that worked for NATO and he imported a Tiger from Europe. I tried to get some 14 hulls in on his container, but the guys in Germany wanted like $3500-5000 US for well used race boats! One problem we are going to see if we want to import hulls is that the Euro is killing us and We'll pay a LOT of money for the boats.

He also said that the dealer threw away EPOs because the newer European ones were better. That hurts.

People get all excited and then go on to other things when the reality of the high cost of hulls comes in. Even when built in the USA, a Hobie 14 hull was just under $2,000 PER HULL back in the history files! I have no records of ever selling a Hobie 14 hull back to 1998. The cost from France is certainly higher now. Then there is the issue of Freight and duty on imported product.

Same answer... to the ongoing question... each time this comes up. Not likely to happen.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

So....

If some unidentified 14 sailors took a 14 (not Chris') and made mold of it's hulls and then started producing new hulls in the US, how much trouble could we, uh, I mean they really get in???

One of the attractive things about racing the 14's we have is their low cost.

I've probably got less than $3K into mine (including the trailer) - and that's with a new sail, new tramp, new wires and a Comptip.

Licensing, permission and certification issues aside (Dan - big trouble - you're asking for a "cease and desist" letter from Hobie Cat and Hobie Designs) I'm curious to know how expensive it would be to build a set of class legal plugs (to the ISAF specs), then have them to produce molds from.

I don't think it would be practical to pull molds from an existing boat. It's not strong enough.

How many units can be pulled from a single mold before it's no longer usable?

My guess is that we are talking $5K each for the plugs/1st set of molds ($10K total) - assuming that the labor is free (and there's a lot of labor involved).

Each hull weighs about 55 lbs, most of which is resin (at 34 lbs/cu ft = 7.5 gallons). Resin in bulk is about $20/gal, so the resin for each hull is only about $150. Add in the mold release, gel coat, glass, the foam, the flotation block, the pylons, the deck glue and you're looking at probably $500 per hull in materials alone.

Don't forget the vaccuum bagging materials - flim, tubing, breather layer - all disposable. Also - brushes, rollers gloves & other misc. disposables.

Fixed costs - gel coat sprayer / compressor, vaccuum pump, other tools and shop space.

$2K per hull is looking really reasonable in small production quantities - with free labor.

Anybody out there willing to pay $4K for a set of hulls?