The term beachcat is an informal name for one of the most common types of small recreational sailboats, minimalist 14 to 20 foot catamarans, almost always with a cloth "trampoline" stretched between the two hulls, typically made of fiberglass or more recently rotomolded plastic.
The name comes from the fact that they are designed to be sailed directly off a sand beach, unlike most other small boats which are launched from a ramp.
The average 8 foot width of the beachcat means it can also sit upright on the sand and is quite stable in this position, unlike a monohull of the same size.
Most designs had two hulls connected by two aluminum beams and use a cloth mesh net as the "deck" aka "tramp" or trampoline-The A-cat became popular and currently is exploring the move into higher performance via foiling.
The hull shape works so well it inspired several easier to handle production boats, including the Prindle 18-2, and 19, as well as the Hobie Miracle 20.
Catamarans use their wide form to get stability while keeping wetted area low with just 2 narrow hulls in the water.
Most Beachcats were limited to a maximum 8-foot (2.4 m) beam but in a peculiar twist of fate, in the US when the trucking union requested permission to drive faster on highways than the then 55 mph (89 km/h) limit, the Federal government instead raised the maximum trailerable width to 8'6", enabling all trailerable boats to be designed 6 inches wider.
Handling beachcats on the beach is commonly aided using 'beach wheels', essentially an aluminum pole as an axle with two large lightweight tires that do not sink into the sand enabling the boat to be rolled about by one or two persons.
By comparison, the Aqua Cat 12 weighed 160 lb (73 kg) and could easily be carried by two people, and the mast raised by one person.
Originally based in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company was in the sailboat division of General Recreation Corp in Charleston, SC as of 1970.
In 1961, Hobie Alter was selling surfboards at an Anaheim boat show where he met Art Javes and the Aqua Cat 12.
These "beach cats" had been in use since at least the 1950s as a commercial venture, though GIs in World War II mention them in memoirs (inter alia, James Jones [cite]).
It combines the structure of the earlier Aqua with the asymmetrical hull design of the Molokai style, and the beaching ability of the Pacific cat.
The Prindle Cats, initially 16- and 18-ft designs, were comparable to the Hobies but were remarkable for their resistance to "pearling" (in surfer parlance) or "pitch poling" (in sailing vernacular).
The Prindle 19 class continues to grow but is at best a borderline "beach cat", with more of an emphasis on hydrodynamically linear hull design and the use of dagger boards.
After the Hobie 14/16 and Prindle 16/18 "era", beach cat manufacturers increasingly moved away from the asymmetrical designs which moved easily on and off the beach, and focused on theoretically faster symmetrical designs, including the aforesaid Prindle 19, the Hobie 18, the Nacra 5.2 and the Boston Whaler "SuperCat 20".
The influence of the Tornado as an Olympic class beginning in 1984 cannot be underestimated in the emphasis placed on symmetrical, dagger board based models.