Hobie Tiger

Hobie Tiger

F18
Development
Designer Hobie Cat Europe
Location France
Year 1995
Builder(s) Hobie Cat Europe
Role Racer
Name Hobie Tiger
Boat
Crew two
Displacement 397 lb (180 kg)
Draft 2.33 ft (0.71 m) with a daggerboard down
Hull
Type catamaran
Construction fiberglass
LOA 18.08 ft (5.51 m)
Beam 8.53 ft (2.60 m)
Hull appendages
Keel/board type twin daggerboards
Rudder(s) twin transom-mounted rudders
Rig
Rig type Bermuda rig
I foretriangle height 18.83 ft (5.74 m)
P mainsail luff 28 ft (8.5 m)
Sails
Sailplan fractional rigged sloop
Mainsail area 183 sq ft (17.0 m2)
Jib/genoa area 45 sq ft (4.2 m2)
Gennaker area 226 sq ft (21.0 m2)
Other sails solent: 37 sq ft (3.4 m2)
Upwind sail area 228 sq ft (21.2 m2)
Downwind sail area 409 sq ft (38.0 m2)
Racing
Class association Formula 18
RYA PN 693

The Hobie Tiger or Hobie Tiger 18, is a French catamaran sailboat that was designed by Hobie Cat Europe as a Formula 18 racer and first built in 1995.

The boat is an International Sailing Federation recognized international class.

Production

The design was built by Hobie Cat Europe in France, starting in 1995 and later by the parent company Hobie Cat in the United States in 2001, but it is now out of production.

Design

Hobie Tiger flying its asymmetrical spinnaker

The Hobie Tiger is a sailing dinghy, with the twin hulls built predominantly of polyester fiberglass sandwich with a foam core.

The hulls have plumb stems and transoms, transom-hung rudders controlled by a single tiller and twin retractable daggerboards. It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars, including a rotating mast, stepped on the fore beam. The rigging is wire. It displaces 397 lb (180 kg) and is normally sailed by a crew of two sailors, both of whom are provided with trapezes to balance the boat.

The boat has a draft of 2.33 ft (0.71 m) with a daggerboard extended and 3.00 in (7.6 cm) with both retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.

For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of 226 sq ft (21.0 m2).

The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick RYA PN handicap number of 693.

See also