Hobie Adventure Island (the BigAI) follow-up

[Apalach]

The BigAI-nothing to get too excited about! Guess I need to put it in a bit of perspective after Ron's earlier post. First reaction by a lot of folks to the latest Hobie yak, the Adventure Island or BigAI-WOW! Second, more reasoned, reaction--seems to me like a lot of hoopla over not much. Sorry, Hobie, but I would not be in too much of a hurry to jump on the BigAI bandwagon just yet. Based on the initial reports, and my limited understanding of how it is built, it seems to me that the BigAI is a somewhat different breed of cat than the basic BigA, or other production kayaks. The BigAI is much more along the lines of a Hobie sailing-type craft (complete with roller-furling) than a fishing or touring kayak. It will be a bear to load (i.e., cartop) or trailer unless the amas are easily detachable. Plus the amas themselves (if detached) will take up an ungodly amount of room in the back of your SUV/car/truck. And I shudder to think of the extra weight involved (oh, my aching back!) in heaving such a boat around, especially with amas attached.

So, my first take on the situation is that unless you are heavily into sailing (or hope to be), and especially kayak sailing, then the BigAI will NOT be the best yak for most folks who want a boat for all-around use--touring, photography, fishing, AND sailing. The BigAI will also will give you three times the chance of running “agroundâ€

[BlueDrifter]

Being both a yaker and a sailor the sailing part of me states this Hobie will be a poor sailor. Buy a Hobie Cat! With the extra hulls attached the yaking side of me says ugh! Heavy, slow very hard to steer at slow speeds

Several sailboat manufacturer's have tried to make "power sailors (cruising sailboats with basically planing hulls and very large outboard. It was designed for those folks who wanted both types of boat. A fast cruiser and a sailboat. While as with the Hobie the concept was interested in practice they didn't make a good sailboat or a good powerboat.

This Hobie would be an inexpensive way to get into trimaran sailing but the reason for trimarans is to go fast the sail area on this and the fact its has no foresail this will not be fast. Want to go fast in a Kayak go kayak surfing or get a long narrow boat. Want to go fishing with feet power get the outback.

Want to go sailing in a yak? The lobster floats are as good or better in design than any sailing arrangement I have seen.

See Ya... by the way I want an outback let me know if you see any used around.

[MTeal]

Hobie is a sailing company, it's where they got started...they are reaching a different crowd than the yakkers who fish.

[paddlefish]

Hey Apalach. I got a chance to sail the Adventure Island at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City last week - (by the way, you are renowned with the Hobie staff! they were all asking about you). The sail is significantly larger than the standard sail (57sqft)-- makes for a fast ride. It's equipped with the turbo fins and of course the amas and akas make it very stable. The roller-furling function on the sail is easy to work as well.

The nice thing is that you can easily remove the outriggers and sail and you've got an Adventure -- which is a great boat to fish out of.

On another note, Hobie has another fantastic new fishing yak called the Revolution which is shorter (and less expensive) than the Adventure and has the mirage drive. It is similar to a Quest with a mirage drive.

We will have one in The Wilderness Way rental fleet soon.

[Apalach]

Hey paddlefish,
Welcome to the BigBendFishing site. I envy your opportunity to sail the BigAI, but right now I'm taken with the Revo. I plan to drop by the shop to check one out as soon as they become available in Tally--let me know. Thanks.
Dick

[RonHarrison]

Hi there, paddlefish and welcome to the site! I spoke to Elizette (sp?) the other day and she didn't have any idea on when the new Hobies might be enroute. Any ideas?

I'd love to demo the Revolution. I'll be hot to try the new Outback when they come out too!

Thanks and, again, WELCOME!

[paddlefish]

Hey Ron, we put the Hobie pre-season order in on Friday, so it looks like we should start getting new boats by the middle of next month. We are getting demos of the Revolution and the new Outback as well if you'd like to try them out.

[RonHarrison]

Awesome! I definitely want to test them both. I'm so in-love with my Outback that I'm thinking I'll be seriously looking at the new model.

Let me know when the next demo day is after the ETA of the new models.

Thanks!!! Can't wait!

[paddlefish]

Once again, Hobie exceeded our expectations -- the new 2007 boats have arrived early at The Wilderness Way. We do have one of the new Outbacks and one of the Revolutions in our rental fleet. Give us a call to reserve.

Keep an eye out, Apalach was by today with his camera -- his well thought out reviews are on the way!

[RonHarrison]

Awesome! Thanks for the update! Can't wait to see Apalach's review.

In other news, the drivewell strengthening kit from Hobie arrived today for my 2006 Outback!