Hobie Wave - International Hobie Class Association

The Hobie Wave

Introduced in 1994 the Wave was created for the hotel resort industry. The rotomolded polyethylene hulls are virtually indestructible, unlike the bigger fiberglass Hobie catamarans. The Wave is easier to tack than the 16 or 14.The bloomless main sail is an excellent safety feature. The resort Wave has introduced thousands of people to sailing.

The Wave can be sailed by one person, but can handle up to four. It is raced single handled which answers the “I can never find a crew” issue. The hull shape makes it very buoyant and it doesn’t bog down with extra crew weight.It is a favorite with the kids because they can pile a bunch of their friends onboard.

The beauty of the Wave is that it is easy to rig and easy to sail.

Easy to rig:The Waves incredibly simple design makes for easy rigging. The mast can be easily hoisted on the mast base ball. The single main sail slides up and locks in with little effort.Attach the blocks with a simple hook and off you go.

Easy to sail: The hull is shaped with skegs along the bottom that act somewhat like center boards.Some sailors will say that if you are “in irons”, you can let go of the tiller and the Wave seems to “find the wind” on its own. In moderate winds, it has a tendency to put itself onto a reach.

A simple push or pull on the helm will tack or jibe it, without the worry of being hit in the head with the boom. Once sailing, one has to really drive it really hard before it will capsize.If she does go over the Hobie Bob, on the top of the mast, holds the sail/mast on top of the water which makes righting it a piece of cake.

Production changes
For years Hobie Cat Company made two styles: the Classic Wave and the Club Wave.The “Classic” was the original Wave version. We designed it to disassemble easily for car top or storage. It uses a cable system and Velcro straps to tension the trampoline.The standing rigging attaches to the hulls with a couple of kinds of hooks.

The “Club” uses a standard lace up trampoline and the standing rigging is attached with clevis pins and rings.The Club version is preferred for racing because the trampoline can be tightened easier and will stay tighter.

What to look for in a used Wave:

Be prepared to spend some time looking for a used Wave, they are somewhat difficult to find and therefor enjoy a high resale value.The original rudder system found on boats older than 2006 is preferred for racing, the aluminum crossbar, rudder arms and castings, allow for nicer rudders. The newer plastic rudder system is better for beginners because it is virtually indestructible.Check tramp carefully for wear and look for digs in the plastic hulls.

By far the best improvement of the Wave has been the addition of the tiller stick.The stick allows you to move your weight forward in lighter air.A tiller can be added to either style Wave, but with the old style rudder system the stick and crossbar are in front of the main blocks which makes it very easy to turn.The newer rudders have shorter rudder arms so the stick is behind the the blocks.

Overall the Hobie Wave is a wonderful little boat.Fun for pleasure sailing and a blast to race against a pretty active, growing number of Wave racers.

Submitted by: Mimi Appel