Beached Hobies
by Lilliana Mendez
Title
Beached Hobies
Artist
Lilliana Mendez
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
Excerpt from the Hobie Site:
http://www.hobie.com/products/hobie-wind-water-waves.aspx
It was a hot summer day in 1950 and Hobie Alter and his friends had just graduated from Laguna Beach High School. Laying around on the beach, their talk turned to the topic on everyone's mind: What are we going to do with the rest of our lives?
After enjoying their teens surfing, diving for lobsters, prying abalone of the rocks, none of them were ready to give all that up. So what to do? Go to college and then teach, become a doctor or lawyer, an accountant? Hobie suggested they were asking the wrong question. Instead of talking about what we might do, let's first make a list of what we won't do.Hobie started it off with Golden Rule Number One. We won't wear suits and ties.Other ideas followed. We won't wear hard shoes.We won't work regular hours that might interrupt our surf time. Hobie took all these ideas and more, thinking outside the box. In doing so, the shape of a culture, lifestyle and an industry was beginning one that shows no sign of ending.
Hobie began by shaping balsa and fiberglass surfboards for himself and a few friends in his parent's garage. By the end of 1953, that number has risen to over 80 boards. He was happy with the result, but his father was not happy with the shavings and resin all over the floor. He helped Hobie set up a small shop and showroom in nearby Dana Point and close to the most popular surf hangouts in the area. By 1959, Hobie had realized his dream of making a living doing exactly what he loved to do. And this was during the Gidget era when surfing became a major youth culture obsession. During the mid-60's he repeated his visionary thinking by developing skateboarding. He used his intuitive knack for publicity by joining forces with a corporate sponsor and creating a promotional skateboarding team. Sidewalk Surfing as it was known became a national phenomenon in landlocked towns and cities across the country. By the late 60's, he introduced the first Hobie Catamaran that revolutionized and democratized the staid and elitist world of yachting. Anyone with $999 at the time could trailer it to a shore, drag it down to the water and take off. No yacht club memberships, marina slip fees or ramps required. And as if this wasn't enough, Hobie had also launched a chain of retail shops and set up clothing licenses to support Hobie branded products.
Uploaded
August 30th, 2014
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