Who has guesses?
Some are obvious to be in the top ten all-time production.
Hobie 14, 16, 18, and maybe 20
Prindle 16 and maybe 18
What else? True production numbers are hard to find.
A lot of Sol Cats were built
The G-Cat 5.0 and 5.7 are candidates
Probably a lot of Aqua Cats got built
Also, if we are making a list, how to include the formula class boats? I doubt if F16 or even F18 total production breaks the top twenty, but maybe A-Class since they were built from the early years of beachcats.
And of course, I'm only counting the boats that were commonly sold in the USA. In the UK there were a lot of Darts and I have no idea what boats were popular in other countries in the big sales years of 70's and 80's.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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Top Ten/Twenty Highest Production Beachcats
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 01:07 PM
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 02:12 PM
I'd guess 5 that should rank very highly:
H16
H14
P16
N5.2
Wave
With:
A-cats
H18
P18
tornado
making an appearance before too long. I don't know anything about g-cat's, though, maybe there are quite a few. I know from my perspective (our cat community + local boat club) that Nacra 5.2s and Hobie16s are far and away more common (ie still alive, not just manufactured) than anything else.
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Rob
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 03:06 PM
pretty good history here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beachcat
With more than 30,000 boats shipped,[2] the AQUA CAT was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2001
nacra 5.2 about 2,500 boats made
Edited by erice on May 31, 2013 - 03:10 PM. -
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 03:43 PM
Aqua Cat has always had basically two models, plus some fringe models. If the 30,000 is anywhere near accurate then maybe 2/3 of them were the 12 footer?
I'd be surprised if any Nacra models made the top ten, maybe the top 20 since it drops off pretty fast I think. Main reason is that they didn't start production until well after the initial huge production years. The Prindle 16 has got to be the largest production Prindle/Nacra.
The Hobie sail numbers are somewhat of an indicator of volume produced. The Hobie 16 numbers are into, what, 130,000? Do the Prindle numbers work like that?
Anyone know when the Prindle 16 and 18 started and stopped production and if the sail numbers mean anything?
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 03:50 PM
Oh.
I thought the 5.2 replaced the first Nacra (the name of which escapes me) in ~ '76. They certainly seem to have stood the test of time if there were that few of them made.
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Rob
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Posted: May 31, 2013 - 04:57 PM
the nacra 5.2 replaced the rolland alpha cats, which were made in a few different lengths
no one nacra was ever produced in especially large numbers as being more cutting edge, racing type boats as soon as a slightly better design was discovered the models changed to incorporate it, plus the factory and owners kept changing and stamping their mark on things with new models
so the rolland alpha cats became the nacra 5.2, then with small minor changes the 18sq, the 5.8, 5.5, 5.7, 5.0
then the 6.0
then the Infusions, F17. I20, F18, 500
now the 580, 570 etc. etc. etc.
meanwhile hobie just kept banging out the same 1 designs to the same slightly less race oriented, less demanding beach party crowd
Edited by erice on May 31, 2013 - 04:58 PM.
