Sol Cat Purchase

hobie 16 will be hard to beat(parts availability) and ease of use. prindle 16 is a sweet cat for family too. sol cat could be tricky for parts. 16 foot cats will right easier than 18 footers. also depends on the boat, buy one in best shape for money. you definetly will be buying parts for an older boat though so keep that in mind. good luck! bill.

The sol is a decent boat, but like coastrat says, parts are harder and harder to find. It would be a bit of a pain to keep it running without customizing bits and pieces. I would try and stick with Hobies, Nacras and Prindles if possible everything but the hulls are still available for those boats (and even hulls are available for some). I found that the H16 was way harder to right than my Nacra 5.2, but there are all kinds of tricks and add ons you can use to overcome righting issues.

I will second Coastrats statement when buying a used boat. By the boat in the best possible condition for the money and realize that there are always parts to buy and things to change on a used boat to make it work better for you. This is especially true of pre 1990 boats.

I Have sailed a Solcat for several years and have not found parts practically hard to find. The parts that are made for the solcat are out there, there are 3 Solcat for sale on this site as we speak so the boats are out there. All the other things you may need to replace over time such as the tramp, rigging blocks and lines are readily available. I recently pick up a N5.2 and I have to say the Solcat has a larger deck area and is less cluttered with lines and cables. The is the jib blocks are controlled from tracks on the front beam so there is less clutter on the deck. The center beam runs under the tramp and when covered with foam pipe insulation for padding is also less intrusive then having it on top of the deck.
While the Solcat may not be as fast as the N5.3 it is a very stable boat even heavy air and can handle up to 4 people and also be run single handed without much trouble.
All that being said I will got off my soap box and agree with Wolfman ?By the boat in the best possible condition for the money and realize that there are always parts to buy and things to change on a used boat to make it work better for you.?

If you get the Solcat let me know, I have lots of info on the boat.

Jeff O

and remember, teenagers destroy anvils with feathers!

I sailed a sol cat for two years, I do not recommend them. Their dagger board slots leak and the center tamp brace is often restrictive. They do not point well.. especially if the daggers are not down. Daggers get in the way on deck and restrict shallow water conditions when used. So if you find yourself in a shallow water area needing to point... too bad.

where is swf are you? there is a hobie18 for sail at the clearwater sailing center

i'd go hobie 16 this season or at least til the kids become good sailors on it. you will get your money back barring "ooops sies" and it gives you time to check out possible big cat scenarios. even if the kids tear a hull off of it, hobie hulls are every where. oh yes, there is probably a large fleet of 16's there with organized one design racing if your inclined. bill.

Wolfman wrote: The sol is a decent boat, but like coastrat says, parts are harder and harder to find. It would be a bit of a pain to keep it running without customizing bits and pieces. I would try and stick with Hobies, Nacras and Prindles if possible everything but the hulls are still available for those boats (and even hulls are available for some).

Kind of knit picky for a first post but I've been lurking, reading for almost a year now.... To include in Wolfman's list above, Supercat 17's are still being produced new and parts are easily available, just maybe not used parts.... 🙂

edited by: vintagemilano, Feb 09, 2010 - 02:27 PM

True, but there sure aren't many out there especially for sale used. At least compared to the Hobies, Nacras, Prindles and Sol Cats. I really like Mysteres also but haven't seen too many for sale, even in Canada where they are made.

edited by: Wolfman, Feb 09, 2010 - 03:46 PM