Description
The Hobie 17 Sport (often just called the Hobie 17 SE or Hobie 17 Special Edition) is a 17 ft (5.18 m) high-performance beach catamaran introduced in 1985 and produced until 2006, with over 5,000 built – essentially the “hot rod” version of the original Hobie 16. Designed for single-handed or light-crew racing, it features the same 8 ft beam and rotomolded polyethylene hulls as the 16 but with a taller 28 ft 6 in aluminum mast, fully battened 155 sq ft mainsail, roller-furling 48 sq ft jib (total 203 sq ft upwind), and a huge asymmetrical spinnaker kit (up to 400 sq ft) flown from a 6 ft carbon bowsprit.
The 17 Sport also introduced the iconic Hobie “wings” – four wide fiberglass seats that allow the crew to sit outboard and hike hard without a trapeze (though a single trapeze was optional). At just 320–340 lbs. all-up, it flies a hull in 6–8 knots, routinely hits 22–25 knots downwind with the chute up, and is one of the most exciting single-handed cats ever made. Early boats (1985–1991) had symmetrical hulls; later “Sport” versions added slightly deeper asymmetric hulls and mesh trampoline wings.
Though production ended when Hobie shifted to the Getaway and FX One, the 17 Sport remains the default choice for hardcore beach-cat racers who want Hobie 16 simplicity with Formula 18-level speed.
