Hobie Cat Forums

I just bought a Hobie 14, it has some work to be done. I notice both hulls are quite flexible when i push on them. I assumed this was normal, as they are so light weight. Now I am unsure if they are supposed to be this way. I would appreciate any feed back. Thanks

Your boat has a lot more work to be done than you think.

You have discovered the textbook definition of a soft spot = hull cancer.

Soft spots can be repaired if small (~ 1 sq. ft.), but it's not cost effective to repair large ones.

It sounds like you need to find new(er) hulls, or realize that you have nothing but a pile of boat parts (not a boat).

The soft spots are on top of the hulls on both sides. It is not the entire hull. I have a bit of fiberglass work to do, hoping they will be fine. Perhaps an epoxY injection will help

Do a search on the fourm for soft spot repair...tons of info on here. No, it is absolutely not normal for your hulls to be soft/flexible. A set of hulls in good condition will be rock solid.

Injecting epoxy is usually the only practical thing you can do to try to repair this. If the soft spots are in front of the forward pylons (which is most likely the case), then they need to be repaired before sailing the boat, otherwise the hull can collapse.

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If the soft spots were on the bottom of the hulls I would totally agree, however First off it is flexible on the top of the pontoon, it is a 'no step' area so it can be lighter.... Or I could be wrong

In your first post, you asked if soft spots are normal. The two following replies answered that question, but I'll state it again. NO, soft spots are not normal, nor should you sail a boat that has them, especially if they are located in front of the forward crossbar. This includes the deck. The deck should be absolutely solid as it forms a major structural component of the hull (there are no internal bulkheads in a Hobie 14 hull). A soft deck can allow the hull to collapse and needs to be repaired prior to sailing the boat.
Also, it would be highly unlikely for the bottom of the hull to go soft as it is solid fiberglass.

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I was just clarifying that it was the top of the hulls that are flexible, perhaps I shouldn't of used the word soft. Thanks for your answers

If the tops of the decks are flexible, they are soft. You should be able to press as hard as you can with the palm of your hand on the deck without it flexing noticeably.

This is what happens when the decks get soft:

Do a search on this forum in the "repair and maintennce" section for a product called "Git Rot". This is the stuff you want to inject into your hulls to fix soft spots. There are plenty of threads about the process of drilling holes in the top layer of glass (don't drill all the way through the foam sandwhich to the bottom layer of glass) and injecting various products, but Git Rot isthe current material of choice. Enter "soft spot" as a search term too, that should also get you plenty of instruction. MBounds and SRM speak the truth regarding soft spots.

_________________
Mark Van Doren
Division 9 Chairman
H20 #647
H14 #47787
H16 #112205

Thank-you everyone for this information. I will keep you posted what we did and how it worked out. I have a crack in the hull that needs some fiberglass work. So lots to do before it touches water.