I think that I am right in saying that the Hobie 20 is a licenced copy of the Hurricane 5.9, designed and built by the Spitfire co-designer and builder, Reg White.
No.
I believe It's a rip off......
Secondly, the Hurricane 5.9 was not just a cut down Tornado with twin wires and a little more up front....
It shares the Centreboards and rudders and that is a about it.......
It was designed by Reg / Robert white and another I cannot remember as a 8 Foot wide boat with Similar performance to a T. but a little more forgiving in the 'big stuff' - It has had a Mylar mainsail since inception and a Dacron Jib. The SX version looks like an interesting innovation and if I had the spare cash I would Buy a 5.9 as a second / long distance race boat any day. It's wat got twin wire cat sailing going in the UK and at one time it was the boat to have in the UK. It's now probably the 2nd fleet behind the F18 in Europe. I owned two and as I said I would buy another one if I had the Cash...
