Hip Hip Hooray!  Hobie Cat celebrates 50 years!

One of Dana Point’s longtime local businesses that has been up and running for over 68 years is celebrating a huge milestone this weekend! 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Hobie Cat, more specifically the Hobie 14.  The Hobie Cat 50th Anniversary Celebration will set sail this weekend from Doheny State Beach with the “Hobie Cat Funtastico,” which is a distance fun cat race that will sail past historic al Hobie landmarks along the way.

The founder of the Hobie Cat Company, Hobie Alter, had a dream that came to life in his parents’ garage in 1950. That’s when Hobie decided to combine his love of woodworking with the sport of surfing. A couple of years and 40 tons of sawdust later, Hobie opened up Southern California’s first surf shop in 1954 (where Taco Surf is located ) in Dana Point, and the Hobie Surfboard Factory that opened in 1962 in Capistrano Beach and is still located today.  

Hobie Alter and friends would then use simple drawings to bring to life the Hobie Cat 14 in 1968. The Hobie 14 took sailing from being too difficult and too expensive for most people to something easy for anyone who wanted to be out on the water. It wasn’t long before the Hobie 14 revolutionized the sailing industry and won the hearts of sailors around the world keeping Hobie’s dream alive. As the popularity for the Hobie 14 grew beyond the beaches of Dana Point, so did the need for increased production, which lead to the creation of the Hobie Cat Company that is celebrating 50 years this weekend.

From surfboards to hands-free kayaking to stand-up pedal boards, Hobie Alter reinvented these water sports like no one before. Hobie transformed the sport of surfing and sailing, and to this day the Hobie Cat is still the world’s best sailboat ever designed.

The first Hobie 14 Nationals were held at Doheny State Beach right here in Dana Point, so it’s only fitting that the celebration will launch from where it all began. Hobie Alter brought the meaning of fun in the sun to the City of Dana Point, and we are so excited to celebrate their 50th anniversary this weekend at Doheny State Beach.

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