The Hobie HOTLINE, the original publication for Hobie
Cat news, has returned. The Hobie HOTLINE started in
1971 as a little newsletter for Hobie Cat owners but
grew into a full-fledged magazine thought the 80's and
early 90's. In the mid-80's, the HOTLINE began to
loose its way. It became more of a marketing tool for
the Coleman Company, promoting Alpha sailboards, Hobie
Power Skiffs and other Coleman products. The Hobie
Class Association started the NAHCA News newsletter in
1992 in part because the HOTLINE was trying to serve
too many masters. Eventually the HOTLINE became a
financial burden on the Hobie Cat Company (now
independent of Coleman), who ceased publication in
mid-1995.
For ten years after the demise of the HOTLINE, the NAHCA News/HCA News kept plugging along, filling the void. In the last ten years, the HCA News has grown into a professionally produced magazine, comparable to the original HOTLINE. So, the Hobie Class Association has changed the name of its bi-monthly publication to the Hobie Class Association HOTLINE. For many the name change will bring back memories of "the good old days." Not to mention the fact that Hobie HOTLINE rolls off the tongue more easily than Hobie Class Association News.The Volume Number of the first issue of the "new" HOTLINE - 35 - is what the original HOTLINE volume would have been in continuous publication since the first issue in March 1971. The official new name is "Hobie Class Association HOTLINE" but we all know what you'll call it.
The electronic version of Hobie HOTLINE can be read
at:
http://www.hobiecat.com/hobieclass/ [4]