Obit: Hawaiian paddle-out ceremony for Hobie Alter
Posted By RichC on April 21, 2014
Hundreds of people paid tribute to sailing and surfing icon Hobie Alter to fulfill a request of a traditional Hawaiian paddle-out ceremony this past week. Surfers paddled out to a spot off Doheny State Beach in California to celebrate the life of surf and sailing pioneer (photo below).
Hobie Alter was a 1950’s California surfer who began making custom surfboards in his parent’s Laguna Beach summer home back when “surfs” were made of balsa wood. He then teamed up with Gordon Clark to develop a much lighter polyurethane foam surfboard. The advancements were exciting performance improvements … and opened the enjoyment of surfing to all those who enjoy the beach and waves. Technological water sport advancements didn’t stop there, Mr. Alter went on to design affordable sailboats … one in particular could be beach-launched and is known as the Hobie catamaran. As they say, the rest is history.
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