Well, back in the seventies they were popular for sure, and a lot of 18s were sold when it came out.

If my faded view of history is correct, Geoff Prindle was an early employee at Hobie Cat. Gene Vernon also developed the Sol Cat 18, and he might have been a Hobie Cat employee, himself.

I hope someone can refresh my actual claim, but I believe Phil Edwards and Micky Munoz worked with Hobie on the design for the Hobie 14. Imitations began about the time the sixteen came out and inspired Prindle. Vernon went a step further and designed the Sol Cat to be the first affordable production boat with daggerboards, but it faded because of the straight waterline and deck flange. Fred Roland became inspired to add volume in the bow and financed the Alpha line of products, with the Alpha 18 being around for awhile along with their SH 15 footer.

Morrelli and Melvin helped Roland design a NACRA 36, and that became the basis for the NACRA 5.2. The refinements in hull construction with rocker in the stern and seamless deck appearance was a real hit with performance sailors. The 5.8, 18m2, and 6.0 fell in line within just a few years. When the 5.5 SL was introduced they truly had a balanced but underpowered rig. Randy Smyth was on the west coast working with sails and sailplans, and he naturally began working with spinnaker employement.

It was neat being on the French Reviera and seeing a Hobie design in the 19 - 20 foot range with the Smyth spin design on the rental boat. I smiled a bit as he was sharing the story since I had been racing against Randy for a few years prior to going to Europe and had seen the single piece halyard and tack design on Pensacola Beach.

Randy's triangle shaped launch bags were eventually replaced with spin poles, and they were soon replaced with snuffers.

Now we are foiling, and have discovered less weight IS better!

Rick White and Matt Bounds will know the facts, but I wanted to share a nutshell version of the design history for Beach Cats.