Beachcat
Encyclopedia
Beachcat is a term used to describe an off-the-beach class of catamaran
sailboat. A catamaran is often called a cat. A catamaran that is sailed "off the beach" is often referred to as a "beachcat". Although the term "Beachcat" is most popularly known through surf board designer Hobie Alter who designed the paradigm-changing Hobie 14 in 1965, followed in 1967 with the Hobie 16, the concept is hundreds, if not thousands of years old. The Polynesians are credited with the first "catamaran" designs, although it is probable that the initial design was more in the form of an "outrigger" of "Proa" design, with one of the hulls serving as a balancing brace for a main canoe. The adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, in proving that travel between Polynesia
and South America
, as chronicled in the book Kon Tiki, is a testament to the inherent stability (even when made up of bundles of river reeds) of the catamaran design.
Being popularized by Hobie Alter does not necessarily equate with originality. Hobie, as documented in numerous interviews at the time, was heavily influenced by the Molokai and Honolulu beach cats of the 25-40' range, used to take tourists on rides off the beach. These "beach cats" had been in use since at least the 1950s as a commercial venture, though GIs in World War II mention them in memoirs (inter alia, James Jones [cite]). The unique feature of these designs were asymmetrical hulls, a naval architecture term for hulls that are perpendicular (flat) on the outside of the hull, but curved on the inside. The design allows lateral resistance upwind, without the need for skegs, dagger boards or center boards. When running in and out of the surf, the lack of dagger boards or center boards makes "beaching" almost effortless.
During the 1960s, another "original" beach cat appeared in California, the Pacific Cat. The Pacific Cat [designer information necessary] was a 19' by 8' solid fiberglass catamaran with a solid core deck and traditional catamaran sail plan. The design's chief flaw was weight, with Pacific Cats weighing in at over 500 lbs. with approximately 300 square feet (27.9 m²) of sail area. The design was also a traditional design from the naval architecture view with dagger boards and a hard deck.
Photos of the Pacific Cat demonstrate that is was adept at handling the daunting Pacific coast surf, probably due to the momentum it carried even with the limited [for the time] sail plan.
The Hobie Cat, as the most recognized beach cat of the last thirty years, owes its design to at least these predecessors. From the Molokai beach cats, Hobie derived the asymmetrical hull design, which formed the basis for both the "14" and the "16" (all later Hobies were of either the dagger board or skeg design). From the Pacific Cat, Hobie derived the essential platform for a catamaran that could sail on and off the beach through the surf.
The brilliance of the Hobie initial design was the combination the asymmetrical hull design with the smaller, surf "friendly" layout. Without dagger boards but with a large sail area to weight ratio (the "16" weighed 325 lbs. at its inception, with over 350 sq' of sail), the initial Hobie designs were able to sail into and out of heavy surf with safely.
Within a very few years of the Hobie design (particularly the "16") hitting the market, other designers followed with modifications and their improvements on the beach cat design.
The Prindle Cat, introduced in 1972, sought to improve on the basic Hobie design by increasing the forward buoyancy with an almost vertical sheer ( a trend that is currently the vogue in forward design, see, the 2011 Hobie "Wild Cat" F18 design and virtually every current cruising design from Fountaine Pajot, Dolphin, Privilege and Lagoon).
The Prindle Cats, initially at the 16 and (often under rated) 18' designs were comperable to the Hobies but were remarkable for their resistance to "pearling" (in surfer parlance) or "pitch poling" (in sailing vernacular). Even a well-sailed Hobie 16 was (and still is) quite capable of burying a hull and pitching end-over-end. The Prindles, with more forward buoyancy, resisted this tendency to a greater extent, allowing more forward weight balance in heavier air (wind speed), though it must be pointed out that Prindles were quite capable of pitch-poling given the right combination of forward weight, wind and sea conditions. Although out of production, the Prindle 16 is still in good supply on the used market, but the asymmetrical hulled 18s are rare.
Prindle moved into the classes production in the early 1990s, with the development of the Prindle 19, a well designed, fast and balanced ship. The Prindle 19 class continues to grow but is at best a borderline "beach cat", with more of an emphasis on hydro dynamically linear hull design and the use of dagger boards.
But the Prindle and Hobie were by no means the only beach cats to arise out of the golden age of the design in the early 1970s. Deviating from the raised platform and asymmetrical design typified by the Hobie 14 and 16, and the asymmetrical designs with the cross members set at deck level, as typified by the Prindle, new designs sprang up between 1972–1980, which sought to "ride the wave" (so to speak) to the Hobie success story. Some survived, but others produced only a few hundred (or even dozen) hulls and passed into naval architecture history. Those surviving and prospering included the speedsters from NACRA (North American Catamaran Racing Association) and the glass-fibre British Tornado design, which became an Olympic design for the 1984 Los Angeles Games but was (amongst much controversy), dropped from the 2012 London Games.
Designs that briefly prospered but were out of production by the early 1980s included the Sol Cat, the CatYak from Dayton Marine and the Alpha Cat, all with a fuller bow section design but none garnering enough success (financial or popular), to remain in production.
This is also not to say that other designs, some even preceding the Hobie 14, did not succeed and remain in production to this day. The Shark Catamaran, produced and popularized throughout the Great Lakes Region, and the AquaCat, with its tubular design, "A" frame mast plan and mesh trampoline (which again, preceded the Hobie as an innovation), were popular and successful designs that remain available to this day.
After the Hobie 14/16 and Prindle 16/18 "era", beach cat manufacturers increasingly moved away from the asymmetrical designs which moved easily on and off the beach, and focused on the theoretically faster symmetrical designs, including the aforesaid Prindle 19, the Hobie 18, the Nacra 5.2 and the Boston Whaler "SuperCat 20". The influence of the Tornado as an Olympic class beginning in 1984 cannot be underestimated in the emphasis placed on symmetrical, dagger board based models. The Tornado, with its estimated thirty (30) knot top speed, and Olympic panache, contributed to the continuance development of faster and faster "beach cats", which, theoretically, could sail in and out of the surf, but in reality, were much more adept at one design racing. Hence, the development of the F (for Formula) 18 class certification and class.
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
sailboat. A catamaran is often called a cat. A catamaran that is sailed "off the beach" is often referred to as a "beachcat". Although the term "Beachcat" is most popularly known through surf board designer Hobie Alter who designed the paradigm-changing Hobie 14 in 1965, followed in 1967 with the Hobie 16, the concept is hundreds, if not thousands of years old. The Polynesians are credited with the first "catamaran" designs, although it is probable that the initial design was more in the form of an "outrigger" of "Proa" design, with one of the hulls serving as a balancing brace for a main canoe. The adventures of Thor Heyerdahl, in proving that travel between Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, as chronicled in the book Kon Tiki, is a testament to the inherent stability (even when made up of bundles of river reeds) of the catamaran design.
Being popularized by Hobie Alter does not necessarily equate with originality. Hobie, as documented in numerous interviews at the time, was heavily influenced by the Molokai and Honolulu beach cats of the 25-40' range, used to take tourists on rides off the beach. These "beach cats" had been in use since at least the 1950s as a commercial venture, though GIs in World War II mention them in memoirs (inter alia, James Jones [cite]). The unique feature of these designs were asymmetrical hulls, a naval architecture term for hulls that are perpendicular (flat) on the outside of the hull, but curved on the inside. The design allows lateral resistance upwind, without the need for skegs, dagger boards or center boards. When running in and out of the surf, the lack of dagger boards or center boards makes "beaching" almost effortless.
During the 1960s, another "original" beach cat appeared in California, the Pacific Cat. The Pacific Cat [designer information necessary] was a 19' by 8' solid fiberglass catamaran with a solid core deck and traditional catamaran sail plan. The design's chief flaw was weight, with Pacific Cats weighing in at over 500 lbs. with approximately 300 square feet (27.9 m²) of sail area. The design was also a traditional design from the naval architecture view with dagger boards and a hard deck.
Photos of the Pacific Cat demonstrate that is was adept at handling the daunting Pacific coast surf, probably due to the momentum it carried even with the limited [for the time] sail plan.
The Hobie Cat, as the most recognized beach cat of the last thirty years, owes its design to at least these predecessors. From the Molokai beach cats, Hobie derived the asymmetrical hull design, which formed the basis for both the "14" and the "16" (all later Hobies were of either the dagger board or skeg design). From the Pacific Cat, Hobie derived the essential platform for a catamaran that could sail on and off the beach through the surf.
The brilliance of the Hobie initial design was the combination the asymmetrical hull design with the smaller, surf "friendly" layout. Without dagger boards but with a large sail area to weight ratio (the "16" weighed 325 lbs. at its inception, with over 350 sq' of sail), the initial Hobie designs were able to sail into and out of heavy surf with safely.
Within a very few years of the Hobie design (particularly the "16") hitting the market, other designers followed with modifications and their improvements on the beach cat design.
The Prindle Cat, introduced in 1972, sought to improve on the basic Hobie design by increasing the forward buoyancy with an almost vertical sheer ( a trend that is currently the vogue in forward design, see, the 2011 Hobie "Wild Cat" F18 design and virtually every current cruising design from Fountaine Pajot, Dolphin, Privilege and Lagoon).
The Prindle Cats, initially at the 16 and (often under rated) 18' designs were comperable to the Hobies but were remarkable for their resistance to "pearling" (in surfer parlance) or "pitch poling" (in sailing vernacular). Even a well-sailed Hobie 16 was (and still is) quite capable of burying a hull and pitching end-over-end. The Prindles, with more forward buoyancy, resisted this tendency to a greater extent, allowing more forward weight balance in heavier air (wind speed), though it must be pointed out that Prindles were quite capable of pitch-poling given the right combination of forward weight, wind and sea conditions. Although out of production, the Prindle 16 is still in good supply on the used market, but the asymmetrical hulled 18s are rare.
Prindle moved into the classes production in the early 1990s, with the development of the Prindle 19, a well designed, fast and balanced ship. The Prindle 19 class continues to grow but is at best a borderline "beach cat", with more of an emphasis on hydro dynamically linear hull design and the use of dagger boards.
But the Prindle and Hobie were by no means the only beach cats to arise out of the golden age of the design in the early 1970s. Deviating from the raised platform and asymmetrical design typified by the Hobie 14 and 16, and the asymmetrical designs with the cross members set at deck level, as typified by the Prindle, new designs sprang up between 1972–1980, which sought to "ride the wave" (so to speak) to the Hobie success story. Some survived, but others produced only a few hundred (or even dozen) hulls and passed into naval architecture history. Those surviving and prospering included the speedsters from NACRA (North American Catamaran Racing Association) and the glass-fibre British Tornado design, which became an Olympic design for the 1984 Los Angeles Games but was (amongst much controversy), dropped from the 2012 London Games.
Designs that briefly prospered but were out of production by the early 1980s included the Sol Cat, the CatYak from Dayton Marine and the Alpha Cat, all with a fuller bow section design but none garnering enough success (financial or popular), to remain in production.
This is also not to say that other designs, some even preceding the Hobie 14, did not succeed and remain in production to this day. The Shark Catamaran, produced and popularized throughout the Great Lakes Region, and the AquaCat, with its tubular design, "A" frame mast plan and mesh trampoline (which again, preceded the Hobie as an innovation), were popular and successful designs that remain available to this day.
After the Hobie 14/16 and Prindle 16/18 "era", beach cat manufacturers increasingly moved away from the asymmetrical designs which moved easily on and off the beach, and focused on the theoretically faster symmetrical designs, including the aforesaid Prindle 19, the Hobie 18, the Nacra 5.2 and the Boston Whaler "SuperCat 20". The influence of the Tornado as an Olympic class beginning in 1984 cannot be underestimated in the emphasis placed on symmetrical, dagger board based models. The Tornado, with its estimated thirty (30) knot top speed, and Olympic panache, contributed to the continuance development of faster and faster "beach cats", which, theoretically, could sail in and out of the surf, but in reality, were much more adept at one design racing. Hence, the development of the F (for Formula) 18 class certification and class.