Speaking of Hobie cats, I gave away my owner share of that boat and now have a Hobie 16 on a trailer here in C.R. I got it free from my brother and a couple thousand bucks and a hundred hours later it works awesomely.
Good thing this thread is named “ the amazing fallacy of high end stuff” that way we’re right on topic discussing boats, cars, fancy furniture, planes, even high end audio gear.
Fallacy Is Fun!
Fallacy Is Fun!
I found my Hobie 14 in the trader paper that was published in the Motorola plant where I worked (5000 people). It was so old that the serial number on the sail had 4 digits, but in excellent shape. It was owned by two college girls who raced. When I asked why they were selling it, they had the right answer.....we're tired of losing, we want a Prindle.
The Hobie was a well designed and quite predictable boat. I had no problem venturing up to two miles offshore in mine. As long as I could see some of the common landmarks on the shore line, I could find my way back. Before I got the Hobie, I had my brother's AMF Venture 15. Unlike the Hobie, the Venture was unpredictable and would turn completely upside down when it went over and was nearly impossible to right by a single person.
The Hobie was a well designed and quite predictable boat. I had no problem venturing up to two miles offshore in mine. As long as I could see some of the common landmarks on the shore line, I could find my way back. Before I got the Hobie, I had my brother's AMF Venture 15. Unlike the Hobie, the Venture was unpredictable and would turn completely upside down when it went over and was nearly impossible to right by a single person.
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Here is something else you can get for $800.
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I got a sailboat ride on a Hobie 14 off Waikiki when I was a kid visiting. Warm water! Life changing!
That 14 was Hobies first effort. Although Hobie Alter (also the surfboard maker) was involved in the designs, he had a partner in design that knew a lot about catamarans. The second effort, Hobie 16 is considered a better boat, faster, and more stable I think and a 2person crew, usually a couple because ideal crew weight is about 300 lbs. And the 16 was one of the biggest selling Boats ever!
( perhaps slightly less than the Laser boats) Almost 150,000 have been sold. And lots are still raced!
There are now lots of lighter and faster cats of about that size, even other Hobies, but the 16’s are really strong, and can be run up on the beach so are still popular
That 14 was Hobies first effort. Although Hobie Alter (also the surfboard maker) was involved in the designs, he had a partner in design that knew a lot about catamarans. The second effort, Hobie 16 is considered a better boat, faster, and more stable I think and a 2person crew, usually a couple because ideal crew weight is about 300 lbs. And the 16 was one of the biggest selling Boats ever!
( perhaps slightly less than the Laser boats) Almost 150,000 have been sold. And lots are still raced!
There are now lots of lighter and faster cats of about that size, even other Hobies, but the 16’s are really strong, and can be run up on the beach so are still popular
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That is not just any old Silca. That is an Artists Edition. Personally, I'd go for the one with the digital readout. Only £275 in the UK.
Silca was bought out by a US group that has expanded the range. High end stuff a bit to much for me, but it is well made but not Italian . Call me a cranky old guy but I’d rather have a top end mountain fork!
WOW!...... an artsy bicycle pump And for only a piddling 800 smackers. I bet it makes sure you can out-bike anybody! This crap is the reason for the population being as lame as they are today.
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Well thanks, I started doing this when I was ten or so. I built my first "real" amplifier in high school (1970s). It got stolen in college, along with the rest of my system. I wish I had that tube amplifier still. It would be really expensive to duplicate today and would respond very well to modern updates. It would even have snob appeal today- it was raw tube porn, with transistorized power supply and constant current sources just like the snooty tube amps today.
I keep getting better but there's no jobs doing this. I'm still building stuff and planning more stuff than I could build in the rest of my lifetime.
This is the crux of it. I have to make a living. I can make a lot more money doing mundane things.
It's wasted talent.
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It's a digitally controlled fully analog circuit that works great. It has some expensive parts in it. Is it different? It's a combination of Walt Jung, Elliott Sound Products, and Doug Self circuits that are custom tweaked and well parsed. It's really nice, most of the adjustments are on the inside, it works just like an analog preamp with real analog controls. 6 knobs, 2 switches on the front. It's just how I like it.
Oh yeah.
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I don't know about 32 HP, but sometimes just 60 HP is enough.
None of today's cars really appeal to me.
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Poor guy, he is just an executant and you asked for an impossible job, these bodies are not galvanized and have to be repainted frequentely. Physics are physics and engineers are engineers... i suppose there is no way to go on mars with a home made rocket, even with a cartoon diploma.
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Of course they don't. They all appear as theough they were stamped out of the same cookie cutter factory. Boring styling to say the least. Whatever happened to "individuality"?I don't know about 32 HP, but sometimes just 60 HP is enough.
None of today's cars really appeal to me.
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Yes it was fun, the cream of audio in that boat. You, Jim Tiemann was there and one of the Scandinavian guys, can't remember his name, could have been Tom Christiansen. 2013.
The sign at the back side of Alcatraz cracked me up: 'Please do not pick up swimmers' 😎
Jan
From john curl;
"Do you compromise, and just go to Class D?"
Do you really think that class D is a compromise, and if so what order do you give to the main forms of amplification? (A, AB, B, valve versus SS versus D).
Regarding individuality, science has been used to override stylistic concerns. We had a Ford Corsair in the UK, very similar front end to that on the Thunderbird.In the UK there are about 25 SUVs, all of which differ in fine nuances of style, and which probably have similar performances as a result of ecological concerns. The amount of work done on styling, to seduce the psychology of potential buyers is staggering, full size clay models cut with computer driven mills, and much tweeking.
"Do you compromise, and just go to Class D?"
Do you really think that class D is a compromise, and if so what order do you give to the main forms of amplification? (A, AB, B, valve versus SS versus D).
Regarding individuality, science has been used to override stylistic concerns. We had a Ford Corsair in the UK, very similar front end to that on the Thunderbird.In the UK there are about 25 SUVs, all of which differ in fine nuances of style, and which probably have similar performances as a result of ecological concerns. The amount of work done on styling, to seduce the psychology of potential buyers is staggering, full size clay models cut with computer driven mills, and much tweeking.
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Funnily enough, when I watch '40s gangster movies, all those black "sit up and beg" cars look just the same! I guess it was '50s consumerism that created the love for the differences you admire. A bit like audiophile hifi, eh?
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