1. Hobie Alter

2. Catamarans

3. The Hobie Way of LIfe

4. The Company

5. Innovations of the future

6. Bio mimicry

7. Wind Energy

8. Recycling

9. Have a Hobie Day

An Exhibition on 50 years of Sailing Innovation with Hobie Cat Company

1. Hobie Alter

2. Catamarans

3. The Hobie Way of LIfe

4. The Company

5. Innovations of the future

6. Bio mimicry

7. Wind Energy

8. Recycling

9. Have a Hobie Day

An Exhibition on 50 years of Sailing Innovation with Hobie Cat Company

Hobies dream was born in his parentsgarage in 1950, when Hobie decided to apply his love of woodworking to the sport of surfing. Dad backed out the Buick to make room for a shipment of balsawood, Hobie got out his drawknife and carved out his very first surfboard. Friends soon started dropping by and before you knew it there was no room left for the Buick. Hobies business of fun had begun.

The Coolest CatHOBART ALTER

Hobie and the sport grew together. A couple of years and 40 tons of sawdust later, Hobie opened up Southern Californias first surf shop in Dana Point. Then in 1958 Hobie and buddy Gordon Grubby Clark began experimenting with new materials, literally inventing the polyurethane foam surfboard.

The new boards were lighter, faster and easier to ride than anything else in the water. Suddenly everyone wanted to be a surferand every surfer wanted a Hobie.

- Hobie Alter | Founder

Hobart Alter

Hobie Cat 16

By the mid-1960s, while the Beach Boys were making records, the legendary Hobie Surf Team was setting them. Hobies lineup was a veritable Whos Who of surfing greats. Phil Edwards, Joey Cabell, Corky Carroll, Micky Munoz, Joyce Hoffman, Joey Hamasaki, Gary Propper, Billy Hamilton and Herbie Fletcher are just a few of the champions who supported the distinctive Hobie diamond logo over the years.

In the past four decades, more people have taken to the water on a Hobie Cat than almost any other sailboat design. Hobie Cats are still the worlds best selling cats and its hard to find a body of water on any continent that doesnt have an active Hobie racing fleet.

REVOLUTIONIZING SAILING FOR EVERYONE

Youd spend the whole weekend together. That's what the boat did,it put people together.

In the late 60s Hobie started messing around in boats. Hobie developed a prototype for a lightweight, fast and easy-to-sail playboat based on the Polynesian twin-hulled catamaran. History soon repeated itself. What Hobies foam surfboard did for surfing, the Hobie Cat did for sailing, introducing a whole new way to have fun in the sun and revolutionizing an industryin the process.

I love the freedom. The silence. The nature. Knowing that is a sport that you can do when you're 6, as well as when you're 80. Learning to respect the water. Giving and getting something every time you're part of a crew.

-Jeff Alter | Hobies Son

Over 100,000 Hobie Cats are sailing around the world in huge Hobie fleets and regattas.

Through the social and racing activities of Hobie fleets, members have an opportunity to participate in activities designed to enhance the quality of their recreational time, and to contribute to a spirit of friendship that has graced the sport of Hobie Cat sailing since 1967. Sailors everywhere have come to call this unique affinity "The Hobie Way of Life".

Have a Hobie Day A SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP

Having Hobie hand me a trophy at an event some years ago was a tremendous honor, thanks for coming out to support the sport. These guys just love everything youve done, and they credit you with so much of what modern cat sailing is.

Phill Andrews | 1981 Hobie Cat 16 World Champ

In the years to follow, plenty of other ocean innovations emerged from Hobies imagination: the Hobie Power Skiff, a 33 monohull, a 60 ocean voyaging power cat and innovative fishing floats and a wide range of kayaks. Hobies logo has meant the very best in everything from radio-controlled gliders, skateboards, world-famous polarized sunglasses and sportswear.

It seems incredible that one mans vision could provide so much fun for watermen and women the world over, but in that department, Hobie Alter stands alone. He didnt just create toys, he created a way of life, a new way of looking at our watery world. The dream born on the beach in 1950 has become reality not just for Hobie but for new generations of dreamers, all of whom continue to spell fun in the sun, the surf and the sand with a flying capital H.

The way this thing happened was so empirical. We had surfboard shapers. Theyd make a shape, clone it, make the other side, go out and sail it. Did it work? Yes orno? No? Then theyd go and reshape it, add and subtract until it worked.

Bill Baldwin | CFO

SPEllS FuN IN THE SuN, THE SuRF AND THE SAND

A Flying Capital H

Coming About the FutureuSINg wIND ENERgy AS AN AlTERNATIvE

Hobie Cat Company has always been known for their innovations and anything can happen attitude. Our company started back in 1960 in similar times compared to now. With high gas prices and a nasty recession, the one guy in the history of sailing who was able to do something with a situation like the one we have now was Hobie Alter. This is why we believe that after we have revolutionized sailing over the last 50 years, we will be able to create a new movement in using wind energy and other resources to capitalize on our current economic situation and keep Hobie Cat Company going strong.

In the seventies, the recession and gas crisis was really a blessing in disguise. According to Hobie Alter himself We were starting to do so well at that time, we couldnt produce enough boats so when things got tighter, it let us keep running well, delivering on time, filling all our orders. You dont want to get into a business and fall way behind and have everybody demanding your product when you can't deliver it - because someone will come in and deliver it for you.

We are thinking smarter. Starting with our Kayaks and Mirage Drive Technology, we mimicked penguins and the way they move to help our kayaks be more efficient. Next

of a windy day

what does our

look like?Future

&WE HOPE

it still captures the spirt EXCITEMENT

and helps the world to become

we looked at our materials. We realized that using recycled fiber glass rather than new fiber glass was much more efficient and eco friendly. Fiber glass takes more than 100 years to decompose! Lastly, using our innovative attitude we thought what else can we use wind (our most valuable asset) for? Turns out people have found a way to use wind to power a cell phone and even a car. The opportunities are endless as to the improvements we can make for Hobie Cat Company as well as the rest of the world.

a better place

Penguins and kayaksuSINg BIO MIMIcRy IN HOBIE TEcHNOlOgy

The MirageDrive has revolutionized kayak fishing. How? It has freed up your hands for fishing and allows you to fish more efficiently as you maneuver your kayak with your feet. This efficient mechanism allows you to go faster and further with less effort than a paddle and the entire time you can have your fishing pole in your hands.

.

Two pedals drive a pair of underwaterfins much like a penguins flippers.

The simple kayak was born perfect. Light, nimble, and easy to use, kayaks paddled through the ages virtually unchanged. An old design maxim says that perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to remove. The Hobie design team response? Get rid of the paddle.

Welcome to the world of the Hobie MirageDrive. The ungainly paddle is replaced by the sheer efficiency of the pedal. With the largest human muscle group now in play, kayaking becomes easier and more efficient than ever. Two pedals drive a pair of underwater fins much like a penguins flippers.

I love sailing because of the wind, water and sunshine and how every time it's different, yet the basics are always the same. I love the incredible feeling of freedom and peace on the water as well as the feeling of skimming over the water and that sound the water makes on the hull of the boat.

- cORKy cARROl | HOBIES PARTNER

Recycling Fiber GlassTHE HullS ON OuR cATAMARANS ARE BETTER REcyclED

Oversupplying of used boats has been the main obstacle on selling new boats. Selling of new boats often is affected by the prices of used boats and some of the marina and mooring spaces which are available in a fixed number.

Generally the new boats are priced relatively higher than the used boats, which is why most of the boatbuilders find it difficult to produce new boats. Customers only agree to buy new boats once they sell the old ones. We can try our

hands out on certain things to find a solution, but it seems not to solve the entire problem as a whole.

Earlier, fiberglass, a durable material, could not be used to build boats. But the industry has already gone down. As there is not enough space available, building more marinas could help to resolve the issue to some extent. But the task may take a lot of time and money too. Shoreline real estates are also skyrocketed.

Calling on the WindHARNESS wIND POwER TO cHARgE yOuR PHONE

When you think of using wind to generate power you cant help but think of the large wind farms which are beginning to spring up across the country. If you have ever seen a wind farm you will agree that the view is stunning.

Large wind turbines dot the landscape usually as far as the eye can see. Walking up to one of these turbines, the viewer cant fathom how something so large can be moved with just a small amount of wind and how in doing so electricity

is created. What we need to remember is that creating power from wind doesnt have to occur on such a grand scale.

It could be used to power even the smallest of devices including your iPhone. The iFan allows you to harness the green power of the wind, but it does have its drawbacks.

You Steer the BoatwHERE wE ARE AND wHERE wERE gOINg IS uP TO yOu

Ever since Hobie Alter started making surfboards in Dana Point 50 years ago Hobie Cat Company has always been about our customers. We strive to achieve quality, instill innovation and capture fun with all of our products. It isnt about what type of Catamaran or Kayak you have but the people who are there with you for the ride.

Hobie Cat Company brings people together. With this quality installed in us for so long we hope to share the same bond in bettering our products for not only the consumer but for the earth.

Today, Hobie Cat has grown into a global company and leader in sailboat manufacturing. The impetus for the legendary Hobie Cat sailboats is the spirit of Hobie and his friends racing the first catamarans off the beaches of Dana Point.