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Tag: Hobie Alter

  • Hobie Alter, Surfing and Sailing Pioneer, Dies at 80

    Hobart “Hobie” Alter, whose innovations revolutionized surfing and sailing, died in California on Saturday at the age of 80.

    Alter died in his home in Palm Desert on Saturday after a long bout with cancer.

    In 1958, Alter worked with Gordon “Grubby” Clark  to perfect the first polyurethane foam surfboards. Their alternative to the heavier balsa wood model was faster, less expensive, and easy to mass produce. It eventually revolutionized surfing as a sport.

    The Hobie surfboard brand rose to the top of a young industry, which also received a boost in popularity after the surfing movie Gidget came out in 1959.

    In 1967, Alter unveiled his Hobie Cat 14, a small leisure catamaran, which opened the world of sailing to a wider audience. The model soon became the standard in sailing because it was so light and easy to maneuver.

    The Hobie Cat 16 came out a few years later, and the model is still made today.

    His surf shop Hobie in Dana Point south of Los Angeles became a hub for surfing culture in southern California.

    “In discussing the future with friends as a young man Hobie declared that he wanted to make a living without having to wear hard-soled shoes or work east of California’s Pacific Coast Highway,” according to a remembrance statement posted on the Hobie Cat company website.

    “He introduced the world to an outdoor lifestyle and collection of products that made things just a bit more fun for all of us,” the statement on the website said.

    The Hobie Cat website says that in keeping with tradition, a mass “paddle out” will be held in Alter’s honor, when surfers will take to the water near Alter’s childhood home in Laguna Beach. A date for that event has yet to be announced.

    Image via YouTube

  • Surfing Innovator Hobie Alter Passes Away At 80

    Surfing Innovator Hobie Alter Passes Away At 80

    The world of watersports lost a great man on Saturday.

    Hobart “Hobie” Alter, the man responsible for turning surfing and sailing into popular water activities passed away in his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 80 years old.

    Alter is best known for making a lightweight and high-performance sailboat, which he named “Hobie Cat”, as well as the mass production of foam core surfboards. California surfer and creator of Surfer’s Journal Steve Pezman dubbed Alter’s work as “the Henry Ford of the surfboard industry” for the superb quality of his polyurethane foam surfboards.

    It was in the early 1950s that the self-taught innovator began making surfboards in the garage of his family’s home in Laguna Beach. In 1954, Alter opened up his own surfboard shop in Dana Point, the second surfboard store in existence at the time, next to Dale Velzy’s store in South Bay. Together with Alter’s friend, Gordon “Grubby’ Clark, he developed the concept of using polyurethane foam in creating surfboards because they offered better flexibility and price compared to wooden surfboards.

    Four years later, Alter’s operation focused on the full-time production of foam core surfboards. The shift from balsa to foam core construction was painstakingly difficult, and took more than a year for Alter and Clark to perfect. By the end of the 1960s, Alter’s surfboard business had grown so successful that he was able to open another shop in Honolulu. Shortly after launching the shop in Hawaii, Alter also began selling his goods in shops on the East Coast. In 1964, he was able to establish his own line of skateboards called “Hobie Skateboards”.

    Another significant contribution that Alter made started in the late 1960s when he launched the development of the “Hobie Cat” – a fiberglass catamaran that was lightweight and easy to transport. The following years marked a newfound love for sailing among people who would not typically think of purchasing big and pricey sailboats. The 16-foot catamaran was affordable, capable of being launched at the beach, and can be sailed by one person.

    In an interview with Alter that took place in 1977, he said that making surfboards allowed him to earn a living by making things that gave him “pleasure” and it also enabled him to do exactly what he has always wanted to do.

    The Hobie Story

    Image via YouTube