Hobie Getaway
Family daysailer

Fox
Multihull Speedster

If the Sailrocket appeals to you but you'd like to start with something a little more benign maybe you should look at Hobie's new entry-level cat, the 16-foot, 7-inch Getaway designed by Greg Ketterman. This cat involves some crossover technology from the high performance Hobies, but is aimed more at family sailing for those of us whose sea bag doesn't include a crash helmet.

The feature of the Getaway that I first noticed was the lack of any dagger or centerboards. The old Hobie 14s and 16s didn't have boards either, but they did have asymmetrical hulls with exaggerated deadrise to provide resistance to leeway. The Getaway's hulls on the other hand appear to be symmetrical, possibly the result of their roto-molded, polyethylene construction. There is a keel of a sort projecting below the canoe body of this cat, but it's minimal at best, and I think the sailor will have to rely upon the fact that he has the drag of two hulls in the water to prevent leeway. Still, there's leeway and then there's leeway. I can assure you that one sailor's view of acceptable leeway is not always what I would consider acceptable leeway. A test sail in the Getaway against a benchmark boat would help with this evaluation. I have yet to see a boat without any type of board that went to weather well enough to satisfy me. "Hey Bob it's a family daysailer, what do you care?" I care.

Wing seats are an option on the Getaway, and I think they would be a lot of fun. They make it possible to hike without straps and a trapeze apparatus. They also make for very comfortable seating for those of us who get stiff after sitting on a trampoline for two hours. You can always go one step further and rig a trapeze to go with your seats, which would then become "racks." That would allow for some serious hiking.

The rig features a boomless mainsail sheeting to a traveler on the aft crossbeam. This means that you won't do any head bumping as you discover the difference between a tack and a jibe. It also means that downwind there will be nothing to hold out the big mainsail. There is a football-shaped float at the masthead to keep the Getaway from going turtle when you capsize.

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If you have been through the entry-level cat experience and you want to move into something with true performance-cat features and excitement you should look at the Nils Bunkenberg-designed 20-foot Hobie Fox. The Fox weighs a scant 29 pounds more than the 16-foot Getaway while having an additional 66 square feet of sail and the option of an asymmetrical 269-square-foot spinnaker. This is a boat designed for two big men on trapezes. In this case, crew weight equals power.

The weight difference is primarily a function of roto-molding versus the hand-laid-up sandwich/polyester construction on the Fox. Of course, the Fox will not be as durable or trouble free as .the Getaway, but it will be a lot quicker.

The Fox meets the class requirements of the Formula 20 class. The unusual hull shape with the volume pushed low in the hulls is an effort to get wave-piercing performance. Flat hull sections amidships and aft will enhance the Fox's ability to plane. Note the reverse rake on the bow profile and the hard knuckle where the stem meets the bottom of the hull. The high-aspect-ratio board is well aft and uses foils developed in the F-18 Hobie Tiger.

Take a look at this rig with the big, fathead mainsail and high- aspect-ratio jib head angle of 20 degrees. If I owned one of these cats I'd name it Don't Try This At Home.