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 Post subject: Smart Cat
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:42 am 
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Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:47 pm
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Location: Portugal
I saw in Brazil a similar boat to the Bravo that is called “Smart Catâ€


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:52 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:40 am
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Location: Dallas, TX
Curious...

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Either someone forget to file patent paperwork, there's an infringement or it's licensed. But it has given me a good idea for a display stand. :lol:

Brian C


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:36 pm 
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Man that sure is a cool display stand, those are the hardest to display! Oh yea it looks just like a bravo too!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:22 pm 
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Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:00 pm
Posts: 130
Location: South Florida
Here is a rough translation of the caption from the Boat Show.

Get a beating and more resistant than the fiberglass, the polyethylene seems to be a novelty that is arrived to be. This is Smart Cat, a produced catamarã shears smart Pier. With 12 feet, the sailboat weighs 65 kg, including candle and mast, and thousand is already for sale for R$ 8. The project belongs to Hobbie Cat.

Looking at the pictures at the Smart Pier site, it looks like the Rudder assembly and Boom kit are different from the Bravo.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:32 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
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Location: Oceanside, California
What a total rip off of our product! We have seen this. Seems to be more of a product proposal than available to sale down there.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:47 pm 
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Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:00 pm
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Location: South Florida
Well from Matt's reply, It doesn't sound like it was a project they did with Hobie (which is the first impression I got).

The odd thing is you can see slight differences in the sail, handles and major differences in the rudder and boom. However, the hull looks like an exact reproduction. Could they have used a bravo hull, or somehow gotten their hands on the mold?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:23 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:47 pm
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Location: Portugal
Matt

I think you are wrong.
This boat is sold in Brazil. It was present on the 2005 São Paulo Boat Show.
I travelled to brazil last month and bought a brazilian sail magazine (Nautica). In their site I found a test of a boat that was similar to the bravo and they called “Smart Catâ€


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:06 am 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Quote:
Could they have used a bravo hull, or somehow gotten their hands on the mold?


Yep, they splashed (copied) a bravo and all the hardware.

What a rip off.

Sad to see they put it in production. Brazil is an interesting place. We had a licensed Hobie builder there for years. Hard to do business with the duty structure and (under the table) legal fees.

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Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
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Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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 Post subject: Re: Smart Cat
PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:31 pm
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Sorry to hear about this. I live in Brazil near Fortaleza and was looking at the Smart Cat to possibly buy.

Any chance Hobie will return to Brazil. From the way things look here. Brazil is not much for importing goods - too much tax. They seem to encourage manufacturers to set up business here and produce goods within Brazil. How much is a licence to say build Hobie Bravo here?

Peter


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 Post subject: Re: Smart Cat
PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 7:45 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Wow! That is NOT cool.

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 Post subject: Re: Smart Cat
PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:07 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
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Location: Oceanside, California
peterm wrote:
Any chance Hobie will return to Brazil.


We have been working on a possible distributor, but as you noted... not import friendly there.

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Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
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Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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 Post subject: Re: Smart Cat
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:33 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:37 pm
Posts: 97
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
RIP. OFF. :evil:

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