| Hobie 18 | |
| Insignia: | File:HobieLogo.jpg |
| Insignia Size: | 94px |
| Image Boat: | File:Hobie 18 Kiel2007.jpg |
| Designer: | Hobie Alter and Phil Edwards |
| Location: | United States |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Builder: | Hobie Cat |
| Role: | Sailing dinghy One-design racer |
| Crew: | two |
| Draft: | 2.5feet with a daggerboard down |
| Displacement: | 4000NaN0 |
| Hull Type: | catamaran |
| Construction: | fiberglass |
| Loa: | 18feet |
| Beam: | 8feet |
| Keel Type: | twin daggerboards |
| Rudder Type: | twin transom-mounted rudders |
| Rig Type: | Bermuda rig |
| Sailplan: | fractional rigged sloop |
| Sailarea Total: | 240square feet |
The Hobie 18 is an American catamaran sailboat that was designed by Hobie Alter and Phil Edwards as a one design racer and first built in 1976.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The design was built by Hobie Cat in the United States, starting in 1976, but it is now out of production.[1] [2] [7] [8] [9]
The Hobie 18 is a sailing dinghy, built predominantly of fiberglass. It has a fractional sloop rig, The twin hulls have raked stems, near-plumb transoms, twin transom-hung rudders controlled by a single tiller and twin retractable daggerboards. It displaces 4000NaN0.[1] [2]
The design has a roller furling jib, internally-mounted halyards and adjustable mast spreaders to allow mast adjustments fore-and-aft and abeam while sailing.[10]
The boat has a draft of 2.5feet with a daggerboard extended and 7inches with both retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.[1] [2]
The Hobie 18 Magnum version has hiking wing racks that give a beam of 12feet to allow trapezing crew members more leverage in keeping the boat level.[3] [4]
In 1980 America's Cup racer and media mogul Ted Turner was racing the Hobie 18 and said, "it's a terrific boat, why didn't they have these when I was growing up!"[11]
