The “God Father” of beach catamarans passed away today at age 80. Hobie Alter was known as a great surfboard shaper. He later designed, developed and sold the Hobie 14 as the first (successfull and inexpensive) beach cat. A lot of other designs followed, including the Hobie 33, an ultralight and one design monohull - mostly sailed in the west coast at first. A few other monohulls followed in a variety of sizes and many catamaran sailors began their sailing experiences on the Hobie 14 or Hobie 16. My condolences to his family - he will be greatly missed, but well remembered. Dick Lemke
i love this pic of him…
Hope he has the deadman wire attached to his ankle or this surfboard could go on for a while !
RIP and thank you for your contribution to the sailing world
Had my Hobie Alter Memorial Ride today!
Had lots of fun and enjoyed it much!
Might be what Hobie had in mind.
[video=youtube_share;7QxAqHJTkfk]http://youtu.be/7QxAqHJTkfk[/video]