I put this little beastie together when my first Hobie 17 tore itself apart . After 12 years sailing Hobie 17 catamarans and being quite partial to the comfort and mechanical advantage of trapezing from a wing, returning to a Hobie 14 while my 17 insurers decided what to do with me (and I had sailed Hobie 14's from 1972 to 1987) was going to be quite a letdown .

Not so, as this is only recreational sailing (there isn't any 14 competition in Western Australia any more), I could put wings on a Hobie 14 catamaran and go like a striped ape! That is indeed how she performed, with a VMG to windward far better than the local Hobie 16 catamarans.

A record number of 60 brand new Hobie 16’s, rotating between 200 entries, will be at the starting line-up of the Coca Cola Hobie 16 World Championships, May 4-14 in Cancun, Mexico.

The boats are all being supplied by Hobie Cat Company, the Oceanside, California manufacturer of the Hobie 16. Hobie Cat Company president, Doug SKIDMORE, stepped up to the plate by giving race organisers the extra boats they needed to accommodate the outstanding racer turnout. “It is our way of encouraging as many people as possible to get out on the water and enjoy Hobie sailing and racing,” commented Skidmore.

It's official, the Hobie 17se, recently declared dead by the Hobie Company, has been brought back to life. Read the announcement from Doug Scidmore, President of Hobie.

Several months ago the Hobie Cat Company made an announcement that the Hobie 17 would no longer be produced at our Oceanside, California facility anda final few boats were to be manufactured at our Australia facility and then stopped there as well. At the time the decision was made many of us were reluctant to make it knowing that the Hobie 17 racing class would be effected by it. The Hobie 17 has been like a good friend over the years and saying goodbye was difficult. For those who have sailed it they understand that it is a very nice sailboat.

First the disclaimer: We’re not the best Hobie 16 sailors in the country but we have won a few events and we were 4th at the 2003 Continentals. The following isn’t the gospel truth just the best we’ve been able to figure out so far.

Crew Weight: The minimum allowable class weight, for adult racing, is 285 lbs combined helm and crew. Most teams try to be right at minimum weight. I think 300 lbs is more ideal over a wide variety of conditions. Liza and I are at minimum but we have trouble when the wind kicks up over 20 knots.

High-performance beach catamarans will once again be screaming up the Eastern Seaboard, from Florida and around Cape Hatteras, in two combined races totaling 1000 long and grueling miles.

The Tybee Island Sailing Association, organizers of the successful Tybee 500 that debuted last May, has teamed up with the Outer Banks Catamaran Club to produce two back-to-back five-hundred-mile races starting next year. The contests will form a new 1000-mile annual challenge called the Atlantic 1000. According to race organizers, these two events -- the Tybee 500 and the Outer Banks 500 -- will culminate in a third award honoring the sailors and classes with the best combined times for both.