Hobart “Hobie” Alter, who started out shaping surfboards and ended up creating the Hobie Cat catamaran and the company that introduced the Pelican drive kayak system, passed away peacefully at his Palm Desert home on March 29 surrounded by his loving family. Born Oct. 31, 1933 in Ontario, CA, he was 80 at the time of his passing.



Alter began his somewhat accidental career by combining his two loves, wood shop and water, crafting handmade 9 foot balsawood surfboards for his friends in the garage of his family’s Laguna Beach summer home in the 1950s. After opening his own shop he pioneered pioneered the development of the foam surfboard when balsa wood became scarce. With the lighter and more responsive boards, and his gift for design and commitment to uncompromising quality, Hobie quickly became the number one surfboard brand in the world.

 

He later went on to invent the Hobie Cat catamaran, which greatly expanded access to sailing. Hobie Cat has since gone on to become a leading vendor of kayaks.

Hobie received the Waterman Achievement award from the Surfing Industry Manufacturers Association in 1993, was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame in 1997 and admitted as an inaugural member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011 alongside Dennis Connor and Ted Turner.

Details of Memorial Services are pending, and in keeping with the tradition of the Waterman, there will also be a surfer’s “Paddle Out” in front of the family’s Oak Street home in Laguna Beach, where it all began. Date/time TBD.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider a donation to either:





Sport of Kings Foundation – in Memory of Hobie Alter
PO Box 2499 Capistrano Beach, CA 92624
http://sportofkingsfoundation.org
 

or

 

Surfing Heritage Culture Center – Hobie Alter Scholarship Fund
http://www.surfingheritage.org
Orcas Island Community Foundation – Deer Harbor Volunteer Fire Department– in Memory of Hobie Alter
www.oicf.us

 

For a fuller accounting of Alter’s contributions to surfing and sailing, please see Hobie Cat's eulogy on the company's official blog.