Design and Construction
The Fox is a catamaran of 8.5 feet on the beam and a fractional sloop rig carrying 146 square feet of working sail. Its hand-laid-up sandwich/polyester construction sets it apart from simpler recreational cats hand-laid-up sandwich/polyester construction on the Fox. The hull form is the real story. Volume is pushed low in the hulls to achieve wave-piercing performance, and flat sections amidships and aft let the boat climb onto a plane rather than plow through flat hull sections amidships and aft will enhance the Fox's ability to plane. The bow carries reverse rake, and a hard knuckle marks where the stem meets the hull bottom — a shape that reads as purposeful rather than decorative.
Rig and Handling
On the wire, the Fox is a boat designed for two big men on trapezes, and the sail plan reflects that athletic brief. The rig carries a big, fathead mainsail and a high-aspect-ratio jib with a head angle of 20 degrees, a narrow angle that keeps the forward sail efficient and depowered in a breeze. An asymmetrical 269-square-foot spinnaker is offered as an option for downwind speed. Underneath, a high-aspect-ratio board sits well aft and uses foils developed in the F-18 Hobie Tiger, giving the boat a grounded, controllable foil profile rather than a cruising daggerboard. Compared with the 16-foot Hobie Getaway, the Fox weighs only 29 pounds more yet carries 66 additional square feet of sail, and the result is a boat that is a lot quicker than the Getaway while still close to its smaller sibling in mass.
Accommodations
The Fox is a speedster with no pretense of cabin life. Its 20-foot length and catamaran platform are given over to racing geometry and trapeze work rather than berths or galley space.
Known Issues
The Fox is not as durable or trouble-free as the Hobie Getaway, a gap that traces directly to its more refined and less forgiving construction and hull engineering the Fox will not be as durable or trouble free as.the Getaway. The hand-laid sandwich laminate and the low-volume wave-piercing hulls demand more careful ownership than a simpler Getaway. The hard knuckle at the stem-to-hull junction is a stress concentration in a hull shape that meets waves with pierced, low profiles rather than buoyant topsides, and the aft-placed high-aspect board loads the rear hull structure in ways a simpler cruising board would not.
The Verdict
The Hobie Fox is a focused 20-foot Formula 20 catamaran that trades the bulletproof simplicity of Hobie's recreational cats for outright speed. Its wave-piercing hulls, flat planning sections, Tiger-derived foils, and fathead rig make it a genuine trapeze racer, but that performance comes with a durability penalty against the Getaway and a need for attentive upkeep.
Pros
- Meets Formula 20 class requirements as a dedicated racer
- Wave-piercing low-volume hulls and flat sections for planing
- High-aspect board with F-18 Hobie Tiger foils, well aft
- 66 sq ft more sail than Getaway at only 29 lb more weight
Cons
- Less durable and trouble-free than the Hobie Getaway
- Demands careful ownership of hand-laid sandwich laminate
