Hobie Alter, known as the Henry Ford of surfing, developed the mass-produced foam surfboard with a partner in 1958. His Dana Point shop became the epicenter of Southland surfing.

Hobie Alter could have called it quits after his first surfboard, crafted from a heavy balsa wood in his father’s Laguna Beach garage. But, “he didn’t like that board,” said Dick Metz, who ...

Surfboard pioneer Hobie Alter has died. He was the first to mass-produce foam surfboards, which helped popularize the sport. He went on to change sailing with his low-cost "Hobie Cat" catamaran.

Hobie Alter “created a family,” said Wayne Schafer, who helped Hobie Alter test the Hobie Cat 14 in front of his Capo Beach home in 1968. With oversize scissors, Schafer did the official ...

“Hobie Alter designed a board that was just better than everybody else’s,” says Cris Dawson, who joined the Hobie skateboard team in 1966 and the famed Zephyr Team in 1975.

In 1954, Hobie Alter's dad wanted him to stop making a mess in his Laguna Beach garage so he bought a plot in Dana Point - and a surf brand was born.

NEW YORK — Hobie Alter — who was known as the Henry Ford of the surfboard industry for his manufacturing innovations and who went on to create the Hobie Cat, the popular double-hulled sailboat ...

In 1954, Hobie Alter's dad wanted him to stop making a mess in his Laguna Beach garage so he bought a plot in Dana Point - and a surf brand was born.

Hobie Alter is widely remembered as the man behind the development of the foam-and-fiberglass surfboard. His label, Hobie, remains one of the top-selling surfboard brands of all time.

Hobie Alter, known as the Henry Ford of surfing, developed the mass-produced foam surfboard with a partner in 1958. Hobie Alter dies at 80; shaped Southern California surf culture - Los Angeles Times ...