Back in April I posted a wish list for a new Hobie. The Revo 11 sounds like my dream Hobie:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35193The good news is that Hobie's gurus/engineers are constantly looking at their products and making changes to improve their yaks or like in this case changing/reducing their specs on their yaks for our safety.
The bad news is the change in weight load limits puts the Sport for many of us into a no buy category.
It seems that there is a market for a Hobie Mirage that is bigger than the Scout and smaller/lighter, stable and easier to handle than an Outback or Revolution for those of us who fish and would pack a day's gear and tackle on a Hobie Mirage that could handle us and our gear and still be light enough to get on/off or in/out of our pickups or our SUVs. Like an 10-11-12' footer weighing about 60#'s or less with the fishing necessities like rod mounts built in.
This market will increase in size as the boomers get older, less spry and feel the limitations of decades of over abuse of their bodies like bad shoulders, backs, hips and knees.
The continuing increase in gasoline prices and the impositions of those in charge of rivers, lakes and ocean shores, who do not like humans and as a result of their dislike, restrict shore access and boat fishing will increase the demand for fishable yaks.
Most of us will not be out in the ocean fishing for Marlin, but we have lakes and rivers where the mirage can be the difference in an enjoyable day from beginning to the end at home versus a paddle only yak.
I would be more than willing to 'beta' test any such yak."
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The anti kayakers/humans in charge of getting people off our local rivers and lakes, the Napa/Sonoma areas struck again. We have a new park from land donated by Johnny Miller.
One of the big things in the new park was to be a kayak launch area. Somehow all the parking in the off road area got eliminated before the park opened. There are a grand total of 5 parking spaces over a quarter of a mile from the river. Then there is a steep paved grade for about 350 yards, and then there is a very steep unpaved area from the last paved/but no parking area down to the river. That last stretch will be come unaccessible during the winter rainy season. Your final reward if you get back to the launch site by calculating tides and river flow and then back up the unpaved area is about 350+ yards back up the steep grade to get to the 5 vehicle parking spaces.
The Revolution 11 if it has a 250 to 300 # load limit could be handled here.
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As for why it's not out on anything, I would assume it's because that it's slated for 2012, and not 2011....so, consider it probably a prototype....