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Hobie Cats
- Thread starter VaB
- Start date
I learned how to sail at Dana Point harbor in the northern end where there are slips now, in an old Styrofoam, KOOL sailboat that you could buy in the magazine ad. I met Hobie in 1970 in the Sierra Nevada at a tiny little ski resort above Angels Camp when I was only eight years old. My family and I were friends with his whole family. And eventually we followed them down to South Orange County, San Clemente Capo Beach Dana Point. My Mom worked for him at Coast Catamaran. I upgraded to a 14 foot Hobie cat out of Dana Point Harbor. I had number 214 and it was a wonderful experience and a wonderful time in my life. I was 15 years old. 1978. I would take my little dog out on it, tie rope around him and sail down to San Clemente Pier and back and of course, he would jump out after the birdies every now and then which was a pain in the ass trying to reel him in while I was still sailing. I never flew the hull. Just me and my dog. Jeff Prindle came up to me one day and told me about his catamaran and how they were different that I should look into them. we both said how wonderful it was to be out on the water sailing. Like playing gutair, Sailing has been a big part of my life, even though it always ran sort of sublime under the crust of my persona. In reality it caused my move from North Shore Oahu to Maui for the windsurfing and got me a job one summer on some Austrian lakes, and I lived on a sailboat For a few years on Maui and sailed it around the islands.
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Great times on a Hobie 14 with a jib. No trapeze but you could easily fly a hull with two people aboard. One time a friend and I were out having a blast in LA Harbor having launched at “hurricane gulch” in San Pedro, we were down by Alamitos as sunset neared and suddenly the wind dies. I’d guess that’s a couple miles from where we launched. We each got on a hull and started paddling…through one of the busiest ports in the US. Lucky for us, about a third of the way back, as it got dark Harbor Patrol spotted us, threw us a line and towed us back.
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I had a 16' Hobie growing up .... my brother i and once sailed it from Channel Islands harbor out to Anacapa and back. We had a whale do a drive by within 20yds of us on the way back. Loved flying the hull .... amazing how fast they could go.
One time a buddy and I tried to sell from West Maui to Lanai, and same story about a mile off shore of lanai. The wind died, and we paddled all the way back. It was like climbing a waterfall third-degree burns on my back.Great times on a Hobie 14 with a jib. No trapeze but you could easily fly a hull with two people aboard. One time a friend and I were out having a blast in LA Harbor having launched at “hurricane gulch” in San Pedro, we were down by Alamitos as sunset neared and suddenly the wind dies. I’d guess that’s a couple miles from where we launched. We each got on a hull and started paddling…through one of the busiest port in the US. Lucky for us, about a third of the way back, as it got dark Harbor Patrol spotted us, there us a line and towed us back.
I was given a 14' Cat, paired it with a 16' square end canoe and proceeded to experiment.
Sailing wasn't my thing, but we lived close to Puget Sound and had a lot of lakes nearby.
Put a 20 HP outboard on it... It was fun, it worked...
My wife named it "What The Hull".
A real conversation starter at the boat ramps...!!!...
Worked at a water sports wholesaler for 6 years back in the late 70's/early 80's here in Carp.
Their main business was Hobie Cat sales and after market products as well as for Nacra, Prindle.
What a blast! We had all 3 models as shop cats (14,16 and 18).
I learned to sail them all and eventually began racing them for yuks here in SB/Ventura and up at Lopez Lake.
Yes, very fun, and now days, you can find them used for practically nothing or in some cases free just to get them out of someone's backyard.
In fact, there's one across the street from my Mother-in-Law's in Goleta in their backyard that I'll bet they'd be glad to get rid of, it's been there for years.
The folks I worked for are still in business (Murray Sports in Carpinteria) and can provide all the replacement rigging and hardware needed to get one back in the water.
So easy to learn sailing on.
Their main business was Hobie Cat sales and after market products as well as for Nacra, Prindle.
What a blast! We had all 3 models as shop cats (14,16 and 18).
I learned to sail them all and eventually began racing them for yuks here in SB/Ventura and up at Lopez Lake.
Yes, very fun, and now days, you can find them used for practically nothing or in some cases free just to get them out of someone's backyard.
In fact, there's one across the street from my Mother-in-Law's in Goleta in their backyard that I'll bet they'd be glad to get rid of, it's been there for years.
The folks I worked for are still in business (Murray Sports in Carpinteria) and can provide all the replacement rigging and hardware needed to get one back in the water.
So easy to learn sailing on.
Growing up ... we used to take camping trips to Lopez Lake. Great memories ... I remember the water slide.
First sailed on a “Malibu outrigger“ when I was very young. https://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/designs/malibu/outrigger.htm
Warren Seaman was our next door neighbor. Ran them off the beach. The Hobie Cats were easier to sail. Plus being fiberglass they were easier to maintain. My Dad took me to Catalina on one. Camped on the beach. Crazy.
Warren Seaman was our next door neighbor. Ran them off the beach. The Hobie Cats were easier to sail. Plus being fiberglass they were easier to maintain. My Dad took me to Catalina on one. Camped on the beach. Crazy.
My dad worked at hobie in his early 20’s for two days he drove a truck and trailer into a gas station awning and destroyed a trailer full of brand new hobie cats, he called them up and quit and walked home
Those look cool.
When I worked at the boat builder we did a 70 foot catamaran for Mike Miller (quicksilver). Warren Seaman designed it. A bunch of us would do wet Wednesday races after work on the shop foreman’s boat. They were a serious bunch (we won every race that season except one DNF because the wind died). While we were building the catamaran Warren came with us for one race. He was totally laid back and not in tune with the hyper competitiveness of the crew. He would go to the bow, holding on to the head stay and just enjoy the view. If you ever raced you know that weight on the bow is a Bozo no no. Warren was a big guy. The crew were all looking at each other, “We got to say something. Who wants to tell him?” I just remember it was a funny situation.
I love those old CSK cats…
I may have seen that one, around 50th? Used to surf 55th all the time back with VB surfer but that was 20 years ago. Fark.... it really was 20 years ago