I wish to personally thank the Hobie folks for designing and manufacturing the Sidekick. I've had mine on my Adventure for a couple of weeks now and it has made my sailing experience a very nice and relaxed pleasure rather than a constant worrying battle about capsizing when under sail.
I live on a lake, with my own private dock and daily launch my Adventure off my dock. I have to put the sail after I launch with the Kayak secured to my dock. Prior to getting the Sidekick, that meant completely rigging the sail and that meant having the sail flap around in the wind, into the dock and all over the place while trying to get the Kayak out and turned around and on my way.
Now, with the Sidekick, I put the sail in with a ball bungee holding the sail together furled, install one of the Sidekick AMA on the side of the hull away from the dock, untie from the dock, back out from the dock, and then put in the other Sidekick AMA. This then allows me to completely stand up and feel quite secure and take the ball bungee off the middle of the sail, unfurl the sail and attach a clip to the sail, sit back down and sail away. Soooo much nicer.
I can now also sail around with gusty winds coming seemingly from all directions at the same time without much worry. Living on a highland lake, with 200 foot plus hills all around, the winds swirl and you never know what's coming from moment to moment. You're going along nicely and then you get a complete 180 shifting gust with no notice. That, coupled with leaning in the wrong direction for the new wind shift, is a recipe for an impending capsize. Now, it's sort of so what, retrim and go. I can tie a loop in the sail line, hook it up and let the seat back and just really lay back and relax.
Coming back in to my dock is the reverse of going out. Just stop, stand up and unhock the sail, furl it up and put the ball bungee around it, sit back down, unhock the Sidekick AMA from the dockside and cruise on in. This piece of gear has really put sailing my Adventure into a smooth routine for me rather than an impending emergency.
Also, it takes me only five puffs of air blown into each Sidekick AMA to get them filled up. Deflated they take up almost no space, weigh practically nothing, and can be taken with me and installed underway if necessary.
The Sidekick is a marvel of ingenuity.
Thanks!
