Hobie’s Story

The story of Hobie Alter, the Henry Ford of the surfboard industry, who engineered a long-standing, volume production line of high-quality modern surfboards using specialized materials and techniques. Hobie went on to design and market a top-selling sailboat, the Hobie Catamaran. Hobie discusses other innovations such as the balsa wood glue press, first use of fiberglass in surfboards, girls’ longboards being the best (shorter, lighter and looser), Makaha Model, urethane foam, Clark Foam, expansion into the East Coast, the first marketed signature board, the Phil Edwards Model.