Hobie Cat

Hobie Cat is a company that manufactures watercraft and other products as the Hobie Cat Company. "Hobie Cat" can also refer to specific products of the company, notably its sailing catamarans. Its fiberglass catamaran models range in nominal length between 14 ft and 18 ft. Rotomolded catamaran models range in length between 12 ft and 17 ft. Other sailing vessels in the Hobie Cat lineup include, monocats, dinghies, and trimarans, ranging in length between 9 ft and 20 ft. Its largest product was the Hobie 33, 33 ft in length. The company's non-sailing product line includes surfboards, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, pedalboards, eyeware, and e-bikes. It was founded in 1961 by Hobart (Hobie) Alter, who originally manufactured surfboards.

History
Alter opened a surfboard shop (a relatively new sport at the time) in the late 1950’s, but his focus changed in 1961 towards designing an easily beached, fiberglass catamaran.

The impetus of this shift is attributed to a 1961 boat show in Anaheim, California, where Alter sold surfboards adjacent to the designer of the 1961 Aqua Cat 12 sailboat, which featured lightweight fiberglass hulls with an aluminium tube structure supporting a trampoline style deck for seating. Following the 1961 boat show, Alter contacted Arthur "Art" Javes to tell him he was also entering the fledgling catamaran market. The first production Hobie Cat was launched on July 4, 1968 and featured a structure similar to the Aqua Cat, but slightly heavier with asymmetrically-shaped hulls that did not rely on dagger boards. This design was more readily beached than the Aqua Cat or Pacific Cat.

In 1969, Hobie released the Hobie 16, their most popular catamaran and the world's largest one-design catamaran class. Over 135,000 Hobie 16 Cats have been built. This was followed by many other similar beachcats in the 1970’s & 80’s as the popularity of sailing and Hobie Cats especially exploded… Hobie introduced the Hobie 18 in 1976, the Hobie 17 in 1985, the Hobie 21 in 1987, the Hobie 18SX in 1989, the Hobie 17 Sport in 1990, the Hobie 20 in 1991, and the Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser in 1992.

In 1996, Hobie introduced the Pursuit kayak, the first of a new generation of boats built using rotomolded polyethylene. This production method is less expensive and time consuming than the fiberglass molds used in the original series of catamarans, and results in a very strong and durable hull, but one which is not as smooth or light as those produced using fiberglass. After perfecting the rotomolded technique on a series small kayaks the company offered their first rotomolded catamaran, the Hobie Wave in 1994. The largest of the rotomolded catamarans, the Hobie Getaway was launched in 2000, then the smallest, the Hobie Bravo was launched in 2001. Hobie also introduced their “mirage drive” on their kayaks in 1997, designed to quickly and efficiently propel the boats through the water, while still allowing shallow draft operation, as the drive “folds up” against the bottom of the hull when not in use. Hobie kayaks began to quickly outsell the catamarans in the 2000’s, and became a significant focus of the company, with Hobie introducing fishing and sailing variants, along with SUPs (first introduced in 2005).

Hobie began discontinuing many of its catamaran designs in 2003, initially with the Hobie 17 & 18, then the Hobie 21SC, Hobie 14, Hobie 20 and Hobie Bravo, as the sailing market contracted and the boats were no longer selling enough to justify continued production. Kayak sales had begun to far eclipse sailboat sales, thanks in part to the popularity of the mirage drive and Hobie’s rugged, high quality recreational & fishing-focused designs. Hobie continued to support all of the discontinued boats with parts and accessories, in many cases for decades after discontinuation. Their current production line consists of the Hobie 16, Hobie Wave, Hobie Getaway, Hobie Mirage Tandem Island, along with numerous kayak and SUP models.

Changes in ownership
Hobie Alter sold the Hobie Cat Company to the Coleman Company in 1975. In 1982, Coast Catamaran (The official name of the Hobie Cat Company at that time) bought dinghy company Vagabond and its line of dinghy designs from Ron Holder and produced a series of dinghy’s (Hobie Hawk, Hobie Holder 12, Hobie Holder 14, Hobie Holder 17 & Hobie Holder 20) and monohulls in the 1980’s and 1990’s, including a 33 foot keelboat (Hobie 33), all of which were quite successful, though they never reached the same popularity as their signature catamarans and were discontinued not long thereafter.

In 1989, the Hobie Cat Company was split between Hobie Cat Company (North America) and Hobie Cat Europe and sold separately, the latter of which began operating independently and designing and producing its own catamarans. The two companies shared worldwide production & distribution rights to the Hobie Cat designs, but otherwise operated as separate entities. Hobie Cat Europe went on to introduce many race oriented catamaran designs and has been the impetus behind most of the “modernization” of Hobie’s production line, with most of Hobie North America’s designs remaining fixed since the 1980’s & 90’s or moving towards rotomolded boats, SUPs and kayaks, which Hobie focused on heavily in the 2000’s. Hobie Europe is responsible for all of Hobie’s Formula 18 and Formula 20 boat designs, as well as several other race and youth sailing boats. Most of Hobie Europe’s production line was not made available in the US, except to owners willing to pay to have them imported. Notable exceptions are the Hobie Tiger and Hobie Wildcat, which were eventually offered in the US to compete with F18 offerings from Nacra, as the popularity of F18 racing in the US grew. Hobie Europe also built their own variant of the Hobie 18 which featured pivoting/retractable centerboards instead of daggerboards. Hobie Europe also spawned a further subdivision, Hobie Australasia, in 2000.

In 1995, The Hobie Cat Company (North America) was sold again to a new private owner.

The Hobie Cat Company purchased back Hobie Europe and its subsidiary Hobie Australasia in 2012, combining the three into one company again. Hobie Europe found itself struggling under the weight of a wide range of boat models, compared to the relatively few offerings of Hobie North America (which had discontinued much of its catamaran production at that time and consolidated production around the Hobie 16, rotomolded boats and kayaks).

The Hobie Cat Company was sold in March 2021 to venture capitalists, including Maynard Industries. In November 2022, Hobie entered an agreement with Starting Line Sailing to produce Hobie 16’s in Bristol, RI, after production had lagged significantly due in part to supply chain and logistics issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. On December 12, 2023, that arrangement was terminated.

Watercraft
Hobie has made a large variety of catamarans and dinghy’s since the company’s inception, beginning with the Hobie 14 and later the Hobie 16. They’re most famous for their fiberglass catamarans, though the company has made significant numbers of rotomolded boats beginning in the 1990’s and 2000’s. While the company briefly produced dinghy’s and monohulls in the 1980’s as well, they never reached anywhere near the same popularity as their catamarans and were discontinued after a handful of years.

Hobie 14
The Hobie 14 was the original catamaran designed by Hobie Alter in 1968. The 14 was originally designed to be sailed from the beach through the surf and back, with features to make sailing on and off the beach easier, such as the iconic "banana" shaped hull profile, kick-up rudders and asymmetric hulls. It's a unirig design with a single sail, designed to be sailed solo or "singlehanded." Hobie later introduced the Hobie 14 "Turbo" or the "turbo" conversion kit, which added a roller furling jib, trapeze and dolphin striker. No longer manufactured by Hobie North America, the Hobie 14 was discontinued in North America in 2004, but is still produced in limited numbers by Hobie Europe and Hobie Brazil.

The Hobie 14 is very sensitive to weight placement fore and aft as a result of the banana hull shape. In rough water, strong winds or weight placed too far forward, the leeward bow is somewhat prone to "dig in," resulting in what is known asa "pitchpole."

The Hobie 14 has a D-PN of 86.4 with the Turbo version faster at 83.1.

Hobie 16


Hobie introduced the Hobie 16 in 1969, and it went on to become the most popular catamaran ever built, both for recreational sailing and as a one-design racer. It was developed to be a bigger, more stable upgrade to the Hobie 14, designed for a crew of two. The boat is 16 ft long, 7 ft wide, has a mast 26 ft tall, and weighs 320 lb. As with the 14, it is intended to be sailed from the beach through the surf, and to be surfed back in on the waves to the beach, with many of the same features and similar asymmetric "banana" hulls. Both jib and main sails are fully battened and total 218 sqft. A double trapeze system comes standard on the Hobie 16. The Hobie 16 is still in production around the world.

Hobie 18
Hobie introduced the Hobie 18 in 1976 as a significant upgrade in sailing performance, tunability and capacity as compared to the Hobie 16 and 14. The Hobie Class Association consider the Hobie 18 the most versatile of all the Hobie beachcats. The Hobie 18 was designed to be not only fast but also rugged. It is designed to be sailed by a crew of two, but can easily carry four passengers when cruising. Experienced sailors can sail the Hobie 18 solo. Unlike the Hobie 14 and 16, the Hobie 18 has symmetrical hulls, using daggerboards to maintain course stability. The boat features a fully battened mainsail and rolling/furling jib. A double trapeze system is also standard equipment on the Hobie 18. Hobie introduced "wing seats" for the Hobie 18 in the early 1980's with wings that extended from the front to rear crossbar. These later became known as "magnum" wings when Hobie introduced the Hobie 18SX in 1987 which featured a taller mast and longer wings, which extended approx. 20 in beyond the crossbars for more flexibility on weight placement. The SX model featured a 19 in taller mast, higher aspect mylar sails. Wings of both types, magnum and SX, are in much demand today due to the added comfort and space provided. They add about 40 lb. Much to the dismay of many Hobie enthusiasts, the Hobie 18 is currently no longer produced.

Hobie 17
The Hobie 17 was introduced in 1985 and was available in two trim 'packages': the SE and the Sport. The SE version was a unirig boat with a mainsail only and wings, and was designed to be singlehanded. The Sport version included a jib and a small boomlett that was not attached to the mast and was intended for recreational sailing by two people. It was 17 ft long, 8 ft wide, had a 27 ft mast and 168 sqft of sail area (200 ft2 or 18.6 m2 with the jib). Both models had swinging centerboards and 'wings'. The uni-rig or catboat sail plan allows the 17SE to 'point' well, or sail closer to straight upwind than many other sloop-rigged catamarans. The Hobie 17 was discontinued in 2003.

The Hobie 17 had a Portsmouth Number of 783. The SE version had a D-PN of 74.0 and the Sport version had 74.5.

Hobie 21SC
The 21SC (for Sport Cruiser) was Hobie Cat's first 'family boat'. Intended for casual sailing, this boat has a front trampoline, wings, an outboard motor-mount, and a built-in cooler. Though larger than the Getaway at 21 ft long, 8 ft wide, with a 29 ft mast and 222 sqft of sail, it could be raced off a D-PN of 74.5. The 21SC was quickly displaced by the more rugged, cheaper Getaway and has been phased out by Hobie Cat.

Hobie 21SE
The 21SE hulls are similar to the 21SC but the similarities end there, the 21SE is a performance oriented boat. It is no longer in production but it had a beam of nearly 10 ft, and 14 ft with the wings. The boat was intended for a racing crew of two or three adults. It also had centreboards instead of daggerboards a 33 ft mast and 300 sqft. of sail. It weighs 700 lb and has a D-PN of 67.0. It had arched, curved crossbars. It was raced as a one design boat in professional racing circuits. The boat is fast and stable but probably saw low production numbers because of its weight, the need to telescope the hulls for trailering and because it is difficult to right the boat if it capsizes without outside assistance.

Miracle 20
Introduced in 1991, the Miracle 20 has 250 sqft of sail area and high aspect ratio mylar sails, as yet another significant performance improvement over the Hobie 18. The Hobie 20 eliminated the hull lip, a significant source of drag, and moved towards higher aspect ratio sails and daggerboards. The 20 was 19 ft long, 8 ft wide, with a 31 ft mast, weighed 420 lb, and had a D-PN of 65.0. The Hobie 20 was discontinued in 2007 after a 16 year production run. The Miracle 20 was designed by Jack Groeneveld, a Dutch catamaran sailor (European champion Prindle 19, winner of the Prindle 19 nationals etc.)

TriFoiler
The Hobie TriFoiler was one of the fastest production sailboats ever created. Introduced in 1994, it was based on a series of boats designed by Greg and Dan Ketterman and sailed by Russel Long, which eventually culminated in Long setting the A-Class Catamaran world sailing speed record in 1992 in the boat "Longshot". That record remains unbroken. The TriFoiler is based on Longshot and this sailing hydrofoil stands as the most unusual of Hobie Cat's boats. Also designed by Greg Ketterman, this trimaran has two sails, one on each ama, and hydrofoils that lift the hulls out of the water at wind speeds of 10 –, allowing the boat to reach speeds up to 45 mph and pull over 2 g in gybe turns.

The TriFoiler was 22 ft long, 19 ft wide, weighed 145 kg, and was sailed from a "cockpit" by two people. The boat was fitted with two 18 ft tall masts, with a total sail area of 215 sqft. It was the largest multihull boat built by Hobie Cat, with 170 produced between 1995 and 1999; another 30 were built independently prior to production starting at Hobie Cat. Production ceased because of limited popularity; the boat was expensive and fragile, and could be used only in low-wave conditions with winds between 10 and 25 mph.

Hobie Tiger
The Hobie Tiger, a Hobie Cat Europe import, was Hobie Cat's entry into the Formula 18 multihull class. The Tiger was very popular and successful both in class racing and Formula 18. At 18 ft long, 8 ft wide, with a 29 ft mast and 227 sqft of sail area (452 sqft with the spinnaker). It weighs in at a minimum of 396 lb as to conform to the Formula 18 specifications. The class D-PN is 62.1. Though originally only available in Europe, many were imported and sold in the US. At its introduction, it was a very competitive F18 boat, but had been eclipsed by newer F18 designs by the end of its production run.

Hobie Fox
The Hobie Fox was designed by Hobie Cat Europe to meet the Formula 20 racing class rules. The hull shape was designed by world champion A-Class sailor Nils Bunkenberg. It had a modern wave-piercing hull design. It had a double trapeze, asymmetrical spinnaker with snuffer retrieval system, high aspect ratio daggerboards, race rudders, and sails designed by Giorgio Zuccoli. It was 20 ft long, had an 8 ft beam and weighed 419 lb. Mainsail area was 194 sqft. Jibsail area was 52 sqft. Spinnaker area was 269 sqft. With a D-PN of 60.4, the Fox was at one point the fastest of the Hobie family.

Hobie Dragoon
The Hobie Dragoon was designed by Hobie Cat Europe as a youth trainer for racing. Age target was 12 to 14 years. Double trapeze and spinnaker option to introduce young sailors to high performance. Length: 12 ft, Beam: 7 ft, Mast Length: 21 ft, Sail Area: 118 sqft. Main plus Jib, Weight: 230 lb. D-PN: 83.0

FX-One
The FX-One was designed and produced by the France-based Hobie Cat Europe company. The boat was designed both for single-handed racing (mainsail + gennaker) and dual-crew sailing (jib + mainsail + gennaker). In both configurations, this boat is eligible for the IHCA racing class. In the two-sailor configuration, this boat is also eligible for the Class 104 multihull class. Relatively uncommon in North America, the FX-One is 17 ft long, with a 27 ft mast and 172 sqft of mainsail area, 3.98 m2 of jib area, 17.5 m2 of gennaker area, and weighs in at 326 ft with the dual crew set-up. It features wavepiercing hulls, and daggerboards. The D-PN is listed as 70.1 without spinnaker and 68.5 singlehanded with spinnaker.

Hobie Pacific
The Hobie Pacific was based on the Hobie Tiger design, but had skegs instead of daggerboards, a smaller rig, and no boom. The boat was intended to be easier to handle than a F18 boat, and targeted at sailing schools. Sail area was 211 sqft, the optional spinnaker was 200 sqft.

Hobie Wildcat
The Hobie Wildcat was introduced in 2009. It is Hobie's latest Formula 18 boat and has the same measurements, weight, and sail area as the Hobie Tiger, per F18 box rules. The boat features wave-piercing bows, a flat bottom in the stern for better planing, and high aspect ratio mainsail & daggerboards.

Rotomolded boats
This series of boats is created of rotomolded polyethylene plastic and is intended for casual and new sailors.

These can be split into two main categories, Hobie Cat USA rotomolded boats and Hobie Cat Europe rotomoulded boats. The boats from the US include the Bravo, Wave and Getaway, whilst the European range consists of the Catsy, Teddy, Twixxy, Max and Tattoo or "T2".

Hobie Bravo
The Bravo is the smallest the Hobie rotomolded catamarans at 12 ft and is intended for one person but can carry two. The relatively narrow beam (4 ft) compared to its 19 ft mast leads to considerable heeling, or tipping of the boat compared to other catamarans. The Bravo has the distinction of being able to furl its sail around the mast. The D-PN is 100.0.

Hobie Wave
The Hobie Wave is intended for one to four passengers, but is easily handled by one with its 13 ft length, 7 ft beam, and 20 ft mast. The Wave was designed by the Morelli/Melvin Engineering firm, and has proved to be extremely popular with beach resorts and rental operations. It is often praised for being rugged and easy to sail. While described as slow and underpowered by catamaran standards, it has a D-PN of 92.1, similar to a Laser (dinghy) that is often considered to be a performance dinghy. Although marketed as a recreational sailboat, an owner-controlled racing class has organized and held regattas since 1998.

Hobie Getaway
The Hobie Getaway is marketed as a "social boat" and is designed with room for up to 6 people, more than Hobie Cat's other boats. The boat has a trampoline both forward and aft of the mast, and is the only rotomolded Hobie to come stock with a jib and have an available trapeze. At 16 ft, the Getaway is the same length as the Hobie 16; the beam is 7 ft and the mast is 25 ft tall. It has a D-PN of 83.3.

Hobie Tattoo or "T2"
The Hobie Tattoo or "T2" was a "performance oriented" ABS boat, sold primarily in Europe, though a few were sold in the US before the boat was ultimately discontinued.

Hobie Holder series
The Hobie Holder boats were originally Designed by Ron Holder and produced by Vagabond sailboats, which was later bought by the Coast Catamaran Corporation (Hobie Cat) and sold under the Hobie brand name in the 1980s. It was a series of monohull dinghys of various sizes from 9' 0" to 20' 0" in length. All were discontinued by the end of the decade. Previous versions were sold under the "Vagabond" name, as well as several others, such as the "Vagabond 14," "O'day 14", "Monarch 14" and "Hobie One-14."

Hobie 10
The Hobie 10 was a small dinghy produced as a response to the Laser dinghy. It has been discontinued.

Hobie 33
The Hobie 33 is a 33 ft monohull lift-keel boat designed to be very light and very fast. It is considered a ULDB or ultralight displacement boat, a sportsboat. It was intended to be a trailerable, one design racer/cruiser. To be trailerable in all US states without special overwidth road permits, beam was kept to just 8 ft, which is quite narrow for a boat of this length, although the Hobie 33 was advertised as being capable of sleeping 7 people. A total of 187 Hobie 33s were built between 1982 and 1986.

The design was the brainchild of Hobie Alter and Sheldon Coleman Sr. To start the project a Bill Lee designed ULDB Santa Cruz 27 named "Redline" was purchased, analyzed and then raced in southern California. Once the design stage started Lewie and John Wake were brought in to lend racing yacht design experience. Hobie 18 designer and legendary surfer Phil Edwards designed the keel and rudder.

There is an active North American class association and national championships yearly. The Hobie 33 is still a competitive offshore sailing yacht and as recently as 2006, 'Mad Max' was the Overall Winner in the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, beating vessels of all lengths from 26 – on corrected time using the PHRF formula. In 2005, the Hobie 33 was first in the doublehanded division of Transpacific Yacht Race and went on to win its class against fully crewed boats.

Racing
The Hobie Class Association organizes regattas for multiple classes of Hobie cat all around the world. In North America, the continent is divided into 16 divisions, with several fleets in each division, in order to help sailors find regattas and events near them, but there are no regional restrictions on who can compete where. Indeed, many of the top sailors will travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles to attend as many regattas as they can.

The Hobie 16 fleet is still a highly active and highly competitive racing fleet, with Nationals and Worlds competitions/regattas drawing hundreds of competitors, often requiring separation into A fleet, B fleet & C fleet based on competitor skill level. Local regattas may have as few as 4-5 boats and be very casual affairs, or as many as 100+ boats and be highly competitive. There are several dozen Hobie fleets across North America alone which organize regattas and events, teach newcomers how to sail and race, and host parties and social events, or even just get together to sail.

Hobie 14, 17, 18, 20 and Hobie Waves each have active nationals competitions every year in the US, and many are raced at local regattas as well. The Hobie Wave is a quickly growing segment of the racing community, appreciated by competitors a simple, easy to handle, easy to rig and easy to sail single-handed boat. Discontinued boats have typically a much smaller turnout and tend to be much more casual to race. Hobie Nationals and Hobie Worlds tend to rotate around the country/globe, hosted in a different place/by a different fleet each year.

Racing of Hobie catamarans is conducted in a large number of countries around the world, with 20 countries sending their top two teams to Hobie worlds every year. The Hobie 16 has large racing fleets in Europe, North America, Australia, Asia, South America and in the islands of Oceania such as New Caledonia and Fiji. Racing is a mix between casual/recreational races and highly competitive regattas, depending on the class of boat and fleet hosting the regatta.