Story från Hobiecat.com
The Hobie Memorial Foundation is raising funds to construct a memorial honoring Hobie Alter’s life and his many contributions to the surfing, boating, and skateboarding industries. The organization has received 47 percent of the needed funding. The Hobie Memorial Foundation Newsletter publishes fascinating historical accounts such as this one in every issue.
It was a Wednesday around noon. I was on my beach contemplating all the different sailing craft that were scattered around in disrepair. The local beach guys that hung out there had acquired a variety of craft, none of which were designed for launching off and returning to the beach. Then Hobie drove up and got out of his car with a pencil behind his ear, a clipboard, a tape measure, and calipers. I asked what brought him to Poche in the middle of the week (he was usually busy at his surf shop), and he replied, “I’m going to design that beach cat we always talked about.” That’s how it began.
We spent the rest of the day checking out all the sailing craft sequestered at Poche; their dimensions, the rigging, sail plans, weight, ease of handling on and off the beach, and sketching hull shapes. There were no blueprints, just a drawing in the sand and a lot of paper napkins. Hobie’s only requirements were that whatever he made, it had to be fun and user-friendly. Then he left.
The following week, Hobie returned with two hulls shaped out of foam blocks covered with resin. He also bought lead pipes to form a wing section to hold the hulls together. Thus, the first prototype of the Hobie 14 was about to take place.
With the information gathered, Hobie went to Newport Beach where he acquired aluminum masts, different cut sails, spars; all the parts that he would need to assemble a prototype beach cat. He also spent time with sail makers and aluminum mast extruders to help design a rigging and sail plan.
The next step was to make two different small catamarans to compare designs. This process went on for some time before arriving at the design that later would transform the sailing world.
On July 4, 1968, Hobie and Sandy Banks, who was hired to assist with the development of the Hobie Cat, built a mold and the first six Hobie Cats were formed and trucked down to Poche.
Hobie Cat #1 was sawed in two to inspect the molding process, and the remaining five were assembled. We had our inaugural regatta on the beach in front of my house. Sandy won the first Hobie Sailing Trophy, and that night we had a cookout at Poche to celebrate the beginning of the Hobie Cat Era.
