Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser

Description

The Hobie 21 is a 21 ft (6.4 m) high-performance beach catamaran produced by Hobie Cat from 1985 to 1991 (approximately 1,200 hulls), designed as the “big water” evolution of the Hobie 18 for serious offshore and long-distance racing. With a 9 ft 6 in beam, asymmetric wave-piercing hulls, 430 lb. all-up weight, and a massive 280 sq ft fully battened mainsail plus roller-furling jib on a 31 ft rotating wing mast, it added double trapezes, a 600–750 sq ft symmetrical or asymmetrical spinnaker on a long carbon bowsprit, and optional wings for crew hiking. It was the first production cat capable of sustained 25–30 knot speeds downwind in skilled hands and the first Hobie built specifically for events like the Worrell 1000 (the 1,000-mile Florida-to-Virginia Beach-cat race), where Hobie 21 teams dominated in the late 1980s. Early boats (1985–1987) were the “Hobie 21 Classic”; from 1988 onward the upgraded “Hobie 21 SE” (Special Edition) featured taller rigs, deeper hulls, and the rotating wing mast that became standard. Though production ended when the market shifted to Formula 18 and smaller family cats, the 21 remains a cult legend among distance beach-cat sailors. A small but hardcore fleet still races in California, Florida, and Australia.