Beachcat

A beachcat is an off-the-beach class of catamaran ("cat") sailboat.

Background

Although the term "beachcat" was popularized by surf board designer Hobie Alter, who designed the paradigm-changing Hobie 14 in 1965 and Hobie 16 in 1967, the underlying concept is 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 as chronicled in the book Kon Tiki, which proved that travel between Polynesia and South America was possible, is a testament to the inherent stability (even when made up of bundles of river reeds) of the catamaran design.

Early modern designs

Beachcats first came into style in the 1960s, with several popular designs. The Aqua cat is a good example of one of the early 1960s catamarans that is still in production.

Pacific

The "original" beachcat, the Pacific cat, appeared in 1960 in California. The Pacific cat was designed by Carter Pyle and was first built in 1960. It was slightly smaller than 19 ft × 8 ft, and was a solid fiberglass catamaran with a solid core deck and traditional catamaran sail plan. The design's chief limitation was its weight of over 500 lb with approximately 300 square feet (28 m²) of sail area. The design was a traditional design with dagger boards and a hard deck. By comparison, the AQUA CAT 12 weighed 160 pounds and could easily be carried by two people, and the mast raised by one person.