Hobie Customer Feedback Needed!

Good day! I'm James, the new Hobie Marketing Director. For those who haven't seen my conversations on social, we are in a bit of a reboot mode and are spinning up our product development and more as part of the next phase. You'll see a start of this activity shortly

In the meantime, we'd love to get your feedback. I have a few questions for you all. They are common consumer insight questions, but effective in helping us plan as we move forward. Any and all help with answers here, would be appreciated as they are key to gaining close connections with you, our amazing Hobie owners!

Off we go. Please answer in the thread below and I'll be checking in daily to scoop replies:

What do you primarily use your kayak for (fishing, recreation, touring, etc.)?

How often do you go out on the water?

What are the biggest challenges you face with your current kayak?

Are there any features you wish your kayak had but currently doesn’t?

When choosing a new kayak, what features are most important to you?

What kind of accessories do you typically use with your kayak?

What do you think of Hobie as a brand? What sets Hobie apart from other brands in your opinion?

What would make you choose a Hobie product over a competitor’s?

What new features or innovations would you like to see in kayaks over the next few years?

How do you see the kayak market evolving in the next 5 years? What trends do you think will be important?

Hey James, welcome aboard! Super excited to see Hobie stepping things up. Here’s my quick take:

I mainly use my kayak for fishing, hitting the water a few times a month.
Biggest challenge? Storage space and stability in choppy conditions.
Would love to see built-in rod holders and better seat adjustments.
When picking a kayak, stability and comfort are top of my list.
I usually add a fish finder, cooler, and a tackle box.
Hobie’s been my go-to because of the build quality and innovation, especially the MirageDrive. It's just a game-changer.
I'd choose Hobie over others for the reliability and the unique features that make my time on the water easier and more fun.
In terms of innovations, I’d love to see better modular storage solutions and more eco-friendly materials.
The market’s definitely leaning towards more tech integration, like smart accessories and sustainable designs.

Looking forward to seeing what Hobie brings ne

-I kayak for recreation.

-The sail is my killer app; to be combined with efficient pedal power when the wind dies is unbeatable.

-My need is for compact storage and transportation. In addition to inflatables, would like to see snap together modular breakdown of rigid hulls into 3 or 4 pieces. I own some of those, but not with pedals and sail.

-My desire would be for a pedal kayak tolerant of bigger waves; now even oversize rudders easily overpowered.

Hi James,

We kayak for fun around San Diego with two iTrek 9s

Go out three times a week

Biggest challenge is that I’d like to go further and have been looking at sail and motor options (sail preferred) for both iTrek and the rest of the Hobie range. Going further also might mean moving away from an inflatable for safety reasons.

I would like to experiment with a sail on the iTrek 9 (would have to upgrade to newer model for the sail and Bimini mount) but feel as though I would want to be able to mount Sidekicks for better stability as well as a sail furler.

For my next purchase I am trying to balance all of the above and am considering an Adventure Island. I need something I can launch solo relatively (very) easily and that combines the Mirage Drive with sail (and maybe a motor).

Love the Mirage drive, the portability and styling of the iTrek 9 is awesome and I feel that Hobie has a reputation for quality and fun on the water.

The ability to load everything I need into or onto a car (reluctantly with small trailer) is important to me. Been looking at some cool portable sailing dinghies but I don’t want to give up the Mirage drive.

Looking forward to taking a look at the Adventure Island.

Cheers,
Keith

>>> Are there any features you wish your kayak had but currently doesn’t?

As the Hobie kayaks have become more capable and are in many cases used as much as boats as kayaks, here are my top 2 wants:

1. Design and reinforce the bottom of the hull such that transport on PVC or other parallel bunks is supported. Fully rigged kayaks cannot be easily and quickly flipped over, and the cradles aren't available for all models, don't last long, and aren't really that great of a solution.

2. Provide an appropriately reinforcement and standardized mounting plate for a stern electric motor install.

Peter

Welcome!
But are you forgetting the adventure/tandem island owners?
They don’t look at kayak forum

I use my Hobies for recreation. They are good kayaks
My biggest concern is part and accessories availability. There are a lot of fine looking accessories but you can’t get them.

Hi James,
My first attempted post didn’t show up so I will summarize it here.
We have 2 iTrek 9s and go out on the water around San Diego three times a week purely for fun. Don’t use accessories but would love to experiment with sail power to augment the Mirage Drive. I would have to upgrade to a newer model for the sail and Bimini mount but I still wouldn’t be able to use the Sidekicks. The idea of a motor is also appealing but just for the fun it it.
Love the portability and agility of the iTrek 9 but would like to go further and so am going to take a look at the Adventure Island although I’m not keen on trailering.
Wish list for future products:
Portability - love being able to transport in back of car
Sail power as back up to Mirage drive
Easy motor option
Reasons for buying Hobie:
Fun, innovative, styling.
Cheers,
Keith

I have most of the same issues and here is how I see the tradeoffs. The Itrek11 with turbofins and sail option is a fair compromise. Over the Itrek9, it has the 2 long side chambers for redundancy and stability. In my old 12' inflatable I never felt need for sidekicks under sail. The bigger fins can be used to maintain the same speed with lower cadence, thus letting you go further with less effort without a motor and the headaches and fees for state registration.

I have several portable dinghies, but even with stubby oars they are crippled by the lack of pedal drive power when the wind quits. It's exasperating to be a slave to fickle weather so I burden my vehicle with both dinghy and Itrek onboard. As for TI and the newly redeployed AI, that can be a big step forward except for storage and fussing with corrosion in trailer lights and wheel bearings that i didn't enjoy (plus more registration).

P.S. An optimal "both" solution might work for the 2 of you too. Get an Itrek14 Duo, which I believe can hold 2 sails which may be good for light wind. Besides 2 seats it is a massive 44" wide and not likely in need of sidekicks. Also carry a portable dinghy for more classical sailing. If the wind quits further than a quick row from launch you could beach it and send 1 person to walk back to either bring the vehicle closer or else launch the Itrek and tow the dinghy home. Having 2 different crafts helps because if you find big waves and wind at launch, the Itrek doesn't have the rudder authority to handle it yet the dinghy thrives on it if little risk of becalming.

Took the iTrek 9 out on San Diego Bay this morning and realized that I want Hobie to come out with an Adventure Island Ultralight. I will order two without even knowing the launch date (pardon the pun) and I will happily pay the same price as the existing Adventure Island. As I was heading out I saw two blokes launching a Tandem Island to go fishing and they said they loved it.

The biggest problem my wife and I encounter with our Revo 13 kayaks is the weight of the hull. I have used a Thule Hullivator to get them one at a time up on the roof rack and it is far from ideal. I bought a double jet ski trailer and it works well but take space to store, requires driving at a slow speed, and many launch areas are too confined to use the trailer.

I am considering replacing them with two of the Saturn FPK365 inflatable kayaks that have a hull weight of 43 lbs and require 32 x 22 x 13 inches of storage space. They sell complete for $850 with the rudder. These are true kayaks and not SUPs with pedal drives as with the Hobie offerings which are wet boats and less useful as a result. The Saturn inflatable kayaks are available with either propeller drive or with fin drive included.

I'm very satisfied with my Hobie Outback—it’s a fantastic kayak for fishing, with excellent features and build quality!

However, the lack of dealerships here in Norway is a major challenge. The kayak had to be imported from Denmark, which was complicated and expensive.

Accessories are also hard to get, as they also need to be imported, with high shipping costs and additional import fees.

Despite these challenges, I love the kayak’s stability, customization options, and the MirageDrive system. But I am terrified of either braking the hull or the Miragedrive...

If Hobie established dealerships in Norway, it would make their products much more accessible and appealing.

This forum doesn't stay very active, does it?

I hope things are going well for you at Hobie.

I do not fish. My passport 10.5 is pimped out for sailing and night kayaking. Guardian Angel lighting. XL rudder. Turbo fins. AMA kit.

I live on a lake, and sail when the winds allow.

Adventure Island looks like the next step. I'd love to add a Spinnaker. But the mast is too tall for the bridges. My passport sail goes right under them!

George.

James

You can certainly help me that's for sure.

I live in the UK and have 2 Kayaks. A revo and an tandem island. Both are fitted with evolve drives and on both the power cables have deteriorated and the outer sheath perished so much so that they are I would think reasonably dangerous when connected to a lithium battery.

Of course what I wanted to do was to contact you guys at Hobie to see what the part numbers were so I could order them but there is no way I can contact Hobie other than through dealers.

Our dealers here in the UK (there is really only one company now) cannot find the parts that I need or give me instructions on how to replace the cables that go to the motor units.

So I went to torqueedo who make the drives for Hobie. They will not or can not tell me what the parts are and refer me to their distributors who are of course not really Hobie dealers but sell the torqueedo outboards. Again no joy.

Given that I could not get the cables I looked for the connectors. These are made by Amphenol for Torqueedo or possibly Hobie. Amphenol will not sell them to me direct and required Torqueedo to approve the sale. Which they would not give.

Clearly there is an issue with these cables and because the extension one sits inside the kayak probably only gets checked occasionally, if at all. I only looked at mine when I saw the cable from the removable evolve unit cracking up. So I am hoping that you guys are on top of the issue and can point me in the right direction to be able to replace mine.

I need the power extension cables (I think I have a part number for these) and the cable that comes with the evolve drive unit itself.

So having spent what is a small fortune to me on the evolve kit could you get in touch with me to let me know what I need to do to get the parts to get my two boats back on the water please. And possibly you need to think about releasing a notice about these cables before something catches fire.

you can get me at shopping2022atcrunnsfarmdotcodotuk.

many thanks in advance Trevor

_________________
May the odds be ever in your favor..

1. Light fishing; recreational paddling on a lake and non-whitewater river.

2. Current goal is once or twice a week.

3. Biggest challenge is loading and unloading the Compass as well as trying to flip it for storage and transport with the incredibly poor handles it's equipped with. I've ordered a Compass Loader through my dealer but I don't have it yet.

4. I wish the Mirage Compass had molded in handles the customer can grip; front, rear and especially the sides. The current side handles are worthless to an older person like me. Molded in, grippable handles would greatly aid safety, too, when trying to re-enter the kayak in deep water.

5. Weight, portability, comfortable seat, straight tracking in the water.

6. I typically use dry bags, a soft-sided cooler, track mounted rod holder, paddle holder and safety flag.

7. In the past, exceptional quality, innovation and customer service. Now, new Hobie products are overpriced as other companies have narrowed the gap and Hobie is no longer focused on being exceptional.

8. A return to better quality and design. I purchased a used Compass with an old drive because the dealer put together a very good deal for me. I don't see myself ever paying Hobie prices for new gear.

9. I would like to see some name brand, quality focused companies focus on putting out a few good entry-level kayaks. The top companies are no longer introducing new people to kayaking, instead delegating that task to big box retailers with lower quality. Many of those people are never getting the opportunity to truly enjoy the sport with a good product.

10. I don't care for what I see but I think the market will shrink as kayaks get larger, heavier, motorized and too expensive.