Hobie Alter

[Rocinante33]

RIP Hobie!!!

How many people radically changed both surfing and sailing? Only one, I think.

http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-hobie-alter-20140331,0,3871167.story#axzz2xbCd5uHI

 

[Lucky Dog]

No way. Hobie has been a hero of mine for all of my life. I have owned a three Hobie 16s and have a 17 now. I have one of the original posters of the Hobie 14 hanging next my E35II poster. I remember when they were introduced, traditional sailors of wooden boats saying Hobies weren't really sailboats, made of fiberglass and two hulls. And they didn't use yacht clubs, holding races at different lakes.

Sad day, he made sailing more main stream than anyone.

 

[Fparry]

On some level I find it humorous that the only two fundamental, game changing, inovations to come the world of sailing in the last century came from people outside of the traditional sailing community. The Hobie Cat and, to a lesser extent, sailboarding did more for sailing than any other person, invention, technique, etc.

I was brought into sailing with the purchase of a 1988 Hobie 16 which I still own. Sailing was always something I was drawn to but with no experience I was not about to spend thousands of dollars to give it a try. $850. put me squarely into sailing with a competent boat and trailer. I used it to teach myself the basics and then to have one hell of a lot of fun on the water. Although I haven't checked in a while I would guess that the same amount of money would get a prospective sailor started today.

The "sailing community" has never given proper due to Hobie or his accomplishments. The shear magnitude of his success insured that he could not be ignored and he will certainly never be forgotten but the short obit in Sailing Magazine on line pretty much shows how much respect the traditional community gave to this amazing individual.

RIP Hobie. Your work is appreciated and you will be missed.

 

[G Kiba]

A California legend.

 

[toddbrsd]

One Off Hobie Catamaran?

A few months ago, I helped a friend deliver a catamaran from Oceanside to Long Beach. The owner said it was a one-off prototype built in the 60's by Hobie Alter. It is about 30', nothing like the beach cats. I told him he should try and get it authenticated. If it is true, then I think my friend has a little piece of history on his hands.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201860274502532&l=2564265132733072248

 

[toddster]

A few months ago, I helped a friend deliver a catamaran from Oceanside to Long Beach. The owner said it was a one-off prototype built in the 60's by Hobie Alter. It is about 30', nothing like the beach cats. I told him he should try and get it authenticated. If it is true, then I think my friend has a little piece of history on his hands.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201860274502532&l=2564265132733072248

There was a three-part interview with Hobie, published over at Sailing Anarchy a while back. (Links in the RIP thread from earlier this week.) Somewhere in there, he mentions that when the company went public in the 70's, the board forced them to build a "cruising" catamaran, to someone else's design. He didn't elaborate on what happened, except to imply that he didn't like it. Possibly related to that?
http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=83137&page=2#entry2126234

 

[toddbrsd]

Thanks for the link. It was an interesting read. I think you may be right about this catamaran. While it did have a cabin, it was kneeling room only! so the reference to getting under the table seems spot on.

 

[CHtahoe]

RIP Hobie

I grew up in the beach cities of SoCal and started surfing on a Hobie. I was fortunate enough to meet the man on several occasions over the past 40+ years. In the surfing community, he was honored but not idolized as is the case with most of the "founding fathers" of the sport and were/are just regular guys, like the rest of us. The contributions he made had profound impact upon both surfing and sailing.

You will be missed but not forgotten! Wish I could make it to the paddle-out raftup in Laguna, but I'll be there in spirit. Hope to see ya on the otherside!

CH
Ericson 25+
Swenja (norse for Swan)
Lake Tahoe, SF Bay

 

[Roger]

Here's info on a couple memorial services for Hobie:

View attachment hobie-alter-memorial-announcement.pdf

 

[Randy Rutledge]

My first sailboat was a Hobie 14 which I still own and every time I walk past her I remember that $500 investment. My daughters learned to sail on the Hobie as well. Different is rarely accepted but is what makes life interesting. Just think if our boats were wood how little we would get to sail and how much we would have to work on them.