# Hilu > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hilu > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hilu.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilu > Source revision: 1356172047 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) The **Hilu** [outrigger](/source/Outrigger) is a personal size, beach launched sports boat in the [sailing canoe](/source/Sailing_canoe) style. Hilu was [AMF's](/source/American_Machine_and_Foundry) production version of a boat variety more commonly found in designs hand-built by outrigger aficionados.[2] Hilu utilizes [fiberglass](/source/Glass-reinforced_plastic) [pontoons](/source/Floats_(nautical)) and carries a single [polyester](/source/Sail_cloth) [lateen](/source/Lateen) [sail](/source/Sail) mounted to an un-[stayed](/source/Stays_(nautical)) [aluminum](/source/Aluminium_alloy#Marine_alloys) [mast](/source/Mast_(sailing)). Unlike most of the sailboats in their catalog, the Hilu was commissioned by and expressly designed for AMF. *Hilu* is the Hawaiian name for the black striped [wrasse](/source/Wrasse),[3] a species of reef fish, apparently alluding to the [Polynesian](/source/Polynesian_culture) heritage of the sailing canoe. This added yet another species to AMF's creel of sailboats named for oceanic wildlife. ## Characteristics The Hilu is a tacking outrigger.[4] The hulls are of unequal length and [displacement](/source/Displacement_(ship)), and the mast is [stepped](/source/Mast_step) in the larger of the two pontoon hulls. The Hilu is sometimes mistaken for a [catamaran](/source/Catamaran) or a [proa](/source/Proa), but it is neither. A catamaran has two identical hulls, and a proa shunts rather than tacking and jibing to come about. Hilu [tacks](/source/Tack_(sailing)) and [jibes](/source/Jibe_(sailing)) as a normal sailboat, it has permanent [fore](/source/Bow_(watercraft)) and [aft](/source/Aft) ends rather than a permanent [windward](/source/Windward) and [leeward](/source/Leeward) side, and it does not "[shunt](/source/Crab_claw_sail)" to [come about](/source/Coming_about) so is more akin to the Malibu outrigger of the 1950s.[5] Due to the [asymmetric](/source/Asymmetry) sailing behavior, Hilu is not quite as easy for the novice sailor to master as some of AMF's other beach boats. ## History To create the Hilu, AMF commissioned an industrial design/commercial art group in Farmington, Connecticut, which had no prior experience with boat design. Upon its debut, experienced sailors were not impressed by the way the Hilu sailed.[6] Hilu never received the same level of acceptance by the sailing public as other AMF boats, particularly the [Sunfish](/source/Sunfish_(sailboat)). This may have been due to its design not being quite so novice friendly, or it may have been due to the experimental nature of AMF's attempt to bring something different to the commercial side of beach boating. With demand falling far below the popularity of its AMF cousins, the Hilu lasted only a few years in the marketplace.[7] After AMF acquired Alcort, Inc. in 1969, they named their sailboat product line the "Alcort Division", springboarding off the strong name recognition that Alcort, Inc. had built up over its 24-year history developing and marketing beach boats. ## References 1. AMF Spec Sheet, 12/15/1971 [https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor](https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor) Archive Files 1. ["TdeM - Proa and Outrigger Canoe Links"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100823033055/http://www.tdem.co.nz/boat/links/proa.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.tdem.co.nz/boat/links/proa.html) on 2010-08-23. Retrieved 2010-08-17. 1. ["Fishes of Hawai'i -- Hawaiian names"](http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/marlife/fishes/hname.htm) 1. ["Home"](http://www.tacking-outrigger.com/). *tacking-outrigger.com* 1. ["A short history of the Malibu Outrigger"](https://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/designs/malibu/outrigger.htm) 1. Discussion with the author of *The Sunfish Bible*, AMF HILU - Message #4147 - Jan 15, 2007 [https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor](https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor) 1. AMF Hilu blog [https://www.rvharvey.com/hilu.htm](https://www.rvharvey.com/hilu.htm) ## External links - [https://web.archive.org/web/20100722150720/http://backbayboatworks.com/outrunner.php](https://web.archive.org/web/20100722150720/http://backbayboatworks.com/outrunner.php) - similar boat available today - [http://www.tacking-outrigger.com/ninja_pro2.html](http://www.tacking-outrigger.com/ninja_pro2.html) - similar boat available today - [http://www.signaldesign.net/different22.html](http://www.signaldesign.net/different22.html) - similar boat available today --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hilu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.