Just about everywhere you go near the coast or a lake, you will find, somewhere, a Hobie 16 in someone’s yard. Photo by Steve Morrell.
The many different-colored sails caught the eyes of beachgoers, and the Hobie 16 became a hit all across the United States and ultimately the whole world. Photo by Dave Ellis.
a race. Soon there were Hobie 16 fleets all over the country, and crew on trapezes. Significant power can be derived often racing along with H-14 fleets and later Hobie 18s, and from the ample sail area thereby. others. The many different-colored sails caught the eyes of You will find that it is best not to try to “pinch” the beachgoers, and the Hobie 16 became a hit all across the boat into the wind too much when going to windward. In United States and ultimately the whole world. It was about fact, sometimes falling off a degree or two in a puff works 1977 when Hobie started its national championship probetter. The speed more than makes up for the wider angle gram where they furnished a number of unique boat colors to the wind. and sail patterns that were made specifically for that nationA rather wide stance with your feet when trapezing is al championship series as well as their world championship advised. These things accelerate quickly and can slow events. After the event, these sail and boat colors allowed quickly, too. Perhaps you’ve seen the pictures of crew going local dealers to sell these unique catamarans. By the 1980s, head over heels out of the boat. Not as much fun when you color patterns exploded when sailcloth manufacturers created dyed sailcloth with multiple stripes. Hobie was finding out that the various colors offered for the hulls were having a problem with fading, so they began to scale back, eventually offering only white, yellow and blue, which is now down to just white. In 1989, Hobie stopped providing all of the boats for the national championships and allowed sailors to sail their own boats. And, since the class allows for NO sails from any sailmaker other than Hobie, all of the boats are still equal. The company did provide a few charter boats for championships that were unique. True, in the over 40 years since its launch, there are many performance catamarans that are faster. But give it strong winds, especially on Hobie 16s can be found on beaches around the world. Many 16s are shown here on the a reach, and the H-16 gives the high- beach in St. Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands (a British crown dependency)—off the coast of priced performance cats fits. In fact, Normandy, France. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons. most modern catamarans ask not to have reaching legs in a blow, but the H-16 revels in a strong breeze. are the one doing the flying header off the bow. What’s it like to sail a Hobie 16? If you are not used to Remember all those old pictures that showed the windcatamarans, the first sensation is the trampoline between ward hull way up in the air? That was just for the picture. the hulls. It is soft and bouncy, unlike the inside of your The boat, as all catamarans, is fastest with the windward monohull. The boat is also wider than the usual 16-footer. In hull just “kissing” the water. any kind of wind, however, you will only be on the tramThe Hobie 16 continues to have a strong following. In poline when tacking, or jibing. Most of the time, and always Florida, there is a strong resurgence of H-16 sailing, with a in over 12 knots of breeze, one or both of the crew is susdozen at little Gulfport Yacht Club near St. Petersburg. pending themselves from the trapeze wires. Yes, the H-16 Racing the Hobie 16 can get into your blood. “Hobie” Bob was one of the very first sailing craft that put both skipper Johnson reports that “Cheryl, and I met while racing Hobie 32
August 2013
SOUTHWINDS
www.southwindsmagazine.com