2015 TI leaking hull (not new topic but addressing it again)

Dear Hobie....specifically Matt Miller (Director of Parts and Accessory Sales)

We purchased a new 2015 TI in April and absolutely love the kayak.........however, after taking it out a few times we noticed it was taking on water in the hull. We contacted our dealer and he gave us several things to check out. Long story short, he ended up coming and getting it from us and putting in his pool to determine where the leak was coming from. He found small leak and thought he was able to fix the problem. It did not fix the leak and Hobie ended up sending us a new 2015 TI Hull, which we just picked up a few days ago at our dealer's location.
Today, we took the new boat out on Kentucky Lake for about 2 1/2 hours with 15-20 mph winds (perfect sailing day). Came off the lake and discovered this hull leaks worse than the original one. I scooped 24 red Solo cups of water out of the hull. I contacted our dealer and he is addressing this issue with Hobie warranty department.
As I read through the various forums and comments, it seems as though we are not the only owners experiencing this problem. Needless to say, we are not happy and hope that Hobie contacts us soon with solution.
Anyone else still experiencing this leaking hull issue???

My 2015 TI takes on about 5-7 gallons of water whenever it's windy enough for water to break over the top but very little when it's calm. So I have to assume it's the infamous and fairly common issue with the leaking front hatch. I've thoroughly inspected the rest of the hull and can find no other obvious sources of leaks.

I've just been living with it and have not yet contacted the dealer, but it's high on my to-do list to get it fixed for next season. Yet I see no solution. The water in the hull makes a mess of everything and I have to use dry bags for all storage. The tiny drain and the fact that the hull needs to be raised for draining makes it difficult to get all the water out.

Hobie's boat design expertise is legendary so it's a total mystery why they can't design a front hatch that doesn't leak like a sieve.

Warranty staff is in contact with you and the dealer. I would simply pass information to them if needed.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I've only had the chance to take our new 2015 out once, and it had a significant amount of water in it after we returned. OTOH, it rained very hard on our way home from the dealer, and we didn't check it before taking it out for the inaugural sail. I'll keep an eye on it, but we're pretty well done for the season, so it'll have to wait for spring or a trip to somewhere warm!


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Try this... Buy a half inch thick closed cell foam yoga mat, and cut it to exactly fit the lid of the forward hatch. See if this stops the water flow. You might also like to shorten the bungees to increased the pressure on the lid bearing down on the hull..

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

We have a 2012 TI, most of the time when we go out, we prefer low winds and flat seas (I have a bad back). We don't do anything special with the front hatch and at the most I typically only get maybe a cup of water in the hull after a day of sailing (usually around 10-15 miles). I'm not sure where the water comes in, I suspect a little bit from many locations, including the round hatch seals, and back near the rudder. I tried laying dry towels in the hull in several locations, and they were all damp when we came back in.
Once in a while I like to go offshore and go out and hot dog (not too often anymore), where I go very fast in pretty rough seas (we have massive sails and large twin outboards on our TI so it is specifically setup and hardened for fairly high speed offshore sailing (mostly off Key West)). When I do that I typically take a garbage bag cut to the shape of the hatch opening, and pull it over the hatch opening and hold it down with a loop of stretchy surgical hose stretched around the hatch opening.
Without the garbage bag I will get at least a couple gallons of water in the hull (sometimes more), with the garbage bag I get less, but still much more than when in calm conditions. When going very fast through heavy chop (2-3 ft), the ride is brutal, and very wet, and the entire hull and AMA's flex and twist like a rubber toy, (clearly way beyond the boats design specs).
Tony's yoga mat idea sound like a good one that I will have to try. You only need extra precautions I think, when the conditions are rougher than normal, you could just store the yoga mat inside the front hatch area until needed (that's what I do with my garbage bag)
Hope this helps
FE

The yoga mat lives permanently in the hatch lid, held there by the rubber edging.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

I’m sort of hesitant to wade in here because my experience with my front hatch is contrary – it doesn’t leak.

So, how do I know you ask? Well, a couple of times a year I participate in about a week long offshore sail through the Everglades around the south tip of Florida. My boat is always loaded a bit, like 50 lbs, over Hobie’s recommendation of 350 lbs. We all carried 7 or so gallons of water in addition to all our other gear and I confess to being a heavy weight. We often have brisk winds and choppy seas – lots of bow submarining and water in the face. Everybody got some water in their boats, some with a little and some with a bunch that had to be pumped out. I only got a quart or so and we all wondered why.

For several days, I laid my backpack towel over my gear under the hatch and set off for the day. When we beached for the night the towel would be bone dry.

When I got my boat, I heard about folks having hatch leak issues. The first thing I did was run a layer of grease inside the lid to see if it made even contact all the way around – it didn’t. I used a small piece of wood and a mallet and “seated” the high spots until I got even contact. I also tightened up the bungies. I also left the hatch bungied on the boat when I stored it so it wouldn't warp. I know that’s bad for the bungies, but the cord is cheap and it only takes a few minutes to replace.

So where did the water in my boat come from? My theory is the rudder tubes. As we move about our boats throughout the day, we create small positive and negative pressure cycles in the hull. Essentially the boat slightly “breathes”. With my boat heavily loaded, my rudder lines are really close to the water. Also my rudder tubes didn’t have “O” rings in them. I was just too lazy to take it apart to add them. I think that since the stern was soaked or swamped a good bit of the time, the negative pressure would pull a little water through the tubes. If each tube only leaked a drop or two every couple seconds, that would easily explain a quart or two of water in the boat at the end of the day.

BTW – my boat was a 2007. I sold it a while ago and have an A2 on the way.

OK, there’s my theory. Or maybe I just got lucky!

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