Hobie cat with an outboard

I found a thread on this on another forum a year or so back while looking up crazy boat ideas. What are your thoughts on this, if you took an old Hobie cat beefed it up some added a motor mount, removed the sail and went for all the glory!

I think it's a crazy idea but it's stuck with me as something I'd love to see. Put a little thought into this idea and tell me if you think it could be made to happen (safely speaking).

I figured first step would be to narrow the beam and add a solid transom, strap on a 7.5 and let her rip.... :shock:

Well I got myself thinking too much and I did a search, oh boy, it seems I ain't alone.

One guy even makes a business out of the idea: https://www.sandbarhopper.com/boats/index.htm

A bunch of photos of make shift designs on Google images too.

Would still enjoy your thoughts on the matter. The ones being built can handle a 40 HP! That must fly.

I'd have to get rid of the trampoline and put in a hard center deck. That way a guy could have it for multiple uses. Fishing with chairs, a swim/dive platform for the grandkids, etc. If the mast was shot, try to save some of it for an umbrella mount.

Roger

Look out for soft old hulls about 3' back. Common problem. Look at the top of hull for spongy soft areas. I had one break in half. Mast came down and that hull sunk. One time I thought I would be moving to a no wake only area. Your idea and others made specifically for it can go fast and leave almost no wake. Sounds like a fun project and used old Hobie cats are often discarded.

Crazyboat said:

Well I got myself thinking too much and I did a search, oh boy, it seems I ain't alone.

One guy even makes a business out of the idea: https://www.sandbarhopper.com/boats/index.htm

A bunch of photos of make shift designs on Google images too.

Would still enjoy your thoughts on the matter. The ones being built can handle a 40 HP! That must fly.

Click to expand...

My 14 foot Livingston cat is rated for 50hp.

stinkfoot said:

Crazyboat said:

Well I got myself thinking too much and I did a search, oh boy, it seems I ain't alone.

One guy even makes a business out of the idea: https://www.sandbarhopper.com/boats/index.htm

A bunch of photos of make shift designs on Google images too.

Would still enjoy your thoughts on the matter. The ones being built can handle a 40 HP! That must fly.

Click to expand...

My 14 foot Livingston cat is rated for 50hp.

Click to expand...

Yeah but how much does it cost?

Looking for something original in idea, design. I like the Livingston but you pay for that quality and build. A hobie cat can be gotten on the cheap and you can have fun tooling around on your own set up. Just my opinion of course.

I paid $1000 for a 14 footer with a 35 hp Evinrude and a trailer. They are often for sale in my neck of the woods because they used to be made here.

stinkfoot said:

I paid $1000 for a 14 footer with a 35 hp Evinrude and a trailer. They are often for sale in my neck of the woods because they used to be made here.

Click to expand...

A Livingston? Wow nice price. Still like the novelty of the idea, I hope one day I find the time to build one.

ya could go with a "BIXPY JET" type rudder system. Works on kayaks, don't see why it wouldn't work on a cat. Is a bit expensive. :shock:

WiskeyJaR said:

ya could go with a "BIXPY JET" type rudder system. Works on kayaks, don't see why it wouldn't work on a cat. Is a bit expensive. :shock:

Click to expand...

Yeah would need a good size battery too, I'll stick with the outboard idea.

You can snag some ideas from a Craigcat.
https://craigcat.com

There is one for sale on my local craigslist with some good pictures.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/boa/6187741286.html

Stumpalump said:

You can snag some ideas from a Craigcat.
https://craigcat.com

There is one for sale on my local craigslist with some good pictures.

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/boa/6187741286.html

Click to expand...

I might take an idea or 2 but the waters I'd be running in this would be old polluted rivers and wouldn't want too much spray hitting me. I'd feel better if they were clean rivers.

i like that craigcat. 30hp? for the price i would rather buy a nice tinboat.

I have a cataraft, a raft with two inflatable pontoons under an aluminum frame. Some raft trips end in flat reservoirs and people have been known to bring small outboards in the 5-10 hp range to motor back to the take out. Catarafts are known to be very stable and relatively fast compared to conventional rafts. I have always wanted to try the set up. The rear portion of the raft frame could be easily modified to accept a motor mount.

I had thought about something a little different, either using 2 short canoes or 2 kayaks. Sort of the same principle as you are thinking with the Hobie cat.

Overboard,
I have lashed two canoes together with poles. They are stable but tend to plunge thruough waves rather than riding over them. I had an idea one night drinking with relatives to lash 3 canoes together about 8 feet apart and then make a deck out of plywood, add a mast and a small outboard and crusie the length of Roosevelt Lake, WA. It is the impoundment behind Grand Coulee Dam and goes 180 miles. Floating Man.

wouldn't it be simpler and SAFER to just use pontoons from an old pontoon boat
and modify it to suit your needs ??
the canoes could fill with water and sink - the sealed pontoons won't.
then you could do the Tom Sawyer thing all the way to New Orleans !!
just a thought.




.

I like the Hobie catamaran idea. I assume that you can buy a used one for a decent price.

Before I JUST bought my latest Lowe tinny, I thought about buying two Sit-on-Top kayaks and adding a flat deck. I have a 2.3 hp Mercury engine sitting in the garage. I imagine that it would push it along fast enough to fish for redfish on the Galveston Flats.

The Sit-on-Tops eliminate the concern of water intrusion. They self-drain with their scuppers. They can be bought new for as little as $180.00 each and much less if one was buying a pair used, at the end of the season.

Since I don't have a pickup truck, a trailer would be needed.

My own issues with either the inflatable tubes or the Hobie hulls are oyster reefs and depth. An inflatable, around here, wouldn't make it on a single trip. Live oysters reefs would slice the inflatable tube up in a minute. And, the depths I need to fish in ranges from 5 to 10 inches. I doubt that a loaded Hobie would float that shallow.

All in all, a good idea if you boat where the craft fits.

Go for it!

richg99

Crazyboat...Just stumbled on this now.... richg99



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Local people on the Yukon River, lash freighter canoes together and cover them with plywood. Sometimes they set up a wall tent and carry the whole famile and a dog team.

Other people build rafts out of logs and do the same thing.