Here is a little Hobie innovation history...

Innovation is not just about performance.

We knew we had to focus on getting new sailors into the sport; this is how Hobie Cat decided to do it. Build inexpensive, fun and durable boats. It is working and these people will be turned on to sailing and start moving to bigger and faster boats over time.

In the early 90's we recognized that we had been selling to the same group of sailors for years and that we had minimal new customers. This was after years of building a bigger and faster boat every few years. 14 then 16, 18 and so on...

We KNEW we needed new sailors. The 16 was our entry-level boat and it was getting more expensive to build. We had to get a less expensive and easier to sail boat. We took about three years to design and fully test the Wave and it has now been a HUGE success for multihull sailing and us. They are everywhere as rentals, club boats, cottage boats and personal boats. We have replaced nearly all of the other sailboats that these clubs used to have. Hobie Waves are seen by millions of vacationers around the world. They are seen as fun, fast and simple to sail.

We then started the next phase... a bigger boat again... the Getaway. Then we also went the other way last year and came out with another smaller entry-level boat... the Hobie Bravo. A truly simple multihull that is full of innovation. The Bravo has become a huge seller as well. The Bravo comes from the original 1970's Hobie Mono Cat, but is rotomolded and has a furling mainsail. An “A” frame structure rather than shrouds holds up the mast. You can be on a trailer, then sailing in about 5 minutes. We have applied for patents on the mast a sail system. We also just came out with a new rudder system which patents will be filed for. The new rudder system will replace the 2 casting and cam system that Hobie patented long ago. It has been released on the Bravo this month and will likely be on the Wave and Getaway soon after some further testing. The rudder system is another effort to make sailing simpler for entry-level sailors.

We now have a full range of truly entry-level boats. We let Hobie Cat France concentrate on the tech side. We brought in the Tiger, Fox, and FX1. The Tiger has been selling well, but nothing like the entry-level boats.

I think we made the right design and marketing decisions and that will be good for the sport over time.