Greetings...I was looking at two H16s. one had a nice hull and the other had large soft spots in the deck (thanks for all the tips on this site for checking for those - no, i'm not going to buy the one with the soft spots).

2 questions:

1. I was told that HOBIE changed the type of foam used in the foam "sandwich" in the late 1980's and that the later foam was much less likely to separate or split from the fiberglass (which created soft spots). Is that true or not? if so, does anyone know what year that switch in foam took place?

2. the last couple digits of serial numb of one boat i looked at ended in (i believe) ...80M80H does that indicate it was a 1980 boat? Since there were 2 80's at the end....which one indicates the year?


thanks for any info you can provide,
David S. - Tampa, FL.

It is an 1980

hey, thanks.

anyone have any idea if the foam in the "sandwich" was upgraded at some point?


thanks,
David S. - Tampa, FL

d, I sent you a private message....

thanks for the info folks...

just fyi. being a newbie, i was a bit concerned about whether i would be able to detect soft spots, would i miss them, did they take a really "trained eye" (or feel)?

looking at various boats (and not detecting any), i just wondered whether i didn't know what to see.

when i finally looked at a boat that had some (right where people said to especially check - on the deck in front of tramp)....WOW, it was so obvious (by feel) that there were soft spots.

thanks everyone...David S. - Tampa, FL

keep us posted with what you get

Questions about the foam can be answered at http://www.hobiecat.com/community/

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