David Packard’s garage startup has become a legend in Silicon Valley, and the Oceanside-based business Hobie Alter started in his Laguna garage is inspiring the latest Sports Coast generation of entrepreneurs. Hobie Cat has grown from a surfboard shop in 1950 to America’s largest manufacturer of fiberglass catamaran sailboats.

“A lot of us are enthusiasts in the products that we use. That helps us come up with products the market wants,” explains Hobie Cat CEO Doug Skidmore. The company’s sales have doubled in the past five years to nearly $100 million, and Skidmore expects them to double again in the next five years. That is good news for San Diego. “There is no question that we will expand in this area,” says Skidmore, who has begun looking for expansion facilities close to the company’s North County headquarters.

Hobie Cat manages its global business from an all-in-one plant housing design, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and customer service. While nine-tenths of sales come from North America, the company has launched an international expansion from bases in France and Australia. Hobie Cat also is offering an impressive selection of new products for water sports enthusiasts, ranging from fishing platforms to foot-pedal guided kayaks. “New product is the prime factor for this company,” says Skidmore. “If we didn’t have a continuous stream of new products coming out, we’d be hurt as a company.” Products developed over the past five years account for 90 percent of the company’s sales today.

Hobie Cat’s team approach to new products has steered the company to success. Sales, marketing, engineering and manufacturing work together from idea to prototypes and to testing. At the test phase, San Diego’s ideal climate joins the team. “We have year-round ability to test and come up with new products,” notes Skidmore, who reports that new product launches now take less than one year and sometimes as little as three months.

While innovation is key at the company, tradition retains an important role. “Making sure our products are worthy of the brand name” is a top priority for the company’s management, says Skidmore, who advises the new generation of sports startups to seek marketing alliances with established brands to get to market faster.

Hobie Cat’s growth is accelerating as the company benefits from the current trend favoring local recreation rather than long distance travel. The firm has signed up more than 400 dealers across North America and continues to recruit more as it grows. While Hobie Cat sells globally, it buys locally, with most of the company’s employees and vendors close to Oceanside.

As Hobie grows, the Sports Coast can chart more smooth sailing.

— Max Donner