2015 AI Cradle Dents ?

After one season on the Hobie cradles (https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBR),
I decided I would feel better with the AI stored inverted on it's rails for the winter.

After flipping it, I layed a straightedge on the hull where the cradles bear, and did not like what I saw:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBR
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBR

Regretfully, I failed to make the same assessment before starting to use the cradles - so the jury is out.

Comments?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

There are always distortions around wells and scuppers due to shrinkage differences in thickness and structure during cooling. I suspect this is the way most / many look.

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

Many of use the PVC cradles instead of the Hobie cradles, I've been storing our TI on out trailer for 3 yrs now in our 120 deg hot fl garage with no distortion of any kind. The PVC cradles cost me all of ten bucks.
Just sayin
FE

When I purchased my TI with a trailer in 2015 my Hobie dealer was going to make a trailer bunk for it from his own design. I was worried that this would cause deformations in my boat so I insisted that he use the Hobie TI Cradles at considerably more expense ($280).

This turned out to be a big mistake. This year both cradles cracked so badly in so many places that I don't believe I can fix them (let me know if you want to see a photo). They looked rugged to me but they both cracked like an dropped egg with less than two years use. Next, when I pulled my TI off of the trailer to store it, I finally was able to get a good look at the bottom. The area under the cradles is pushed in and deformed. I'll try to fix this next year when it gets warm again but the deformations were exactly what I was trying to avoid by purchasing the cradles in the first place.

Find a better solution to these poorly designed and built cradles.

My cradles only lasted one season before they were cracked beyond use. I decided to switch to PVC bunks for this season. After removing the TI from the trailer this spring the cradles had left huge dents in the hull. They corrected themselves after I got the boat in they new bunks. IMO Hobie failed miserably with the cradle design, especially at almost $300. $10 worth of PVC does a much better job.

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

_________________
2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

PVC bunks were the first thing I tried.... but after the boat rested overnight on the ones I dummied up, I was able to see some deformation - so I went with the cradles.

But, in light of Matt's observation, maybe it had been there all along.

I *really* should have measured when the hull was new - beeeeg mistake to just assume the hull was true.

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

Didn't you read the previous two posts? The distortions you're seeing are exactly the same as mine and were obviously caused by the cradles because they are in the exact area where the cradles support the boat.

When I first purchased my boat I very carefully checked it and it had no such distortions. Get rid of the cradles before more damage occurs. They're probably eventually going to crack anyway and the resulting sharp edges may then penetrate your hull before you discover the cracks. That nearly happened to me.

It's obvious to me now that the hull needs to be supported along the entire length of the boat to reduce the pressure in any concentrated area. Two cradles are simply not enough to prevent distortions in the hull over long periods of time.

The only thing that would cause the cradles to crack is UV damage. It is also PVC, but with a UV protectant material in it. It is possible the material was flipped in the mold I suppose.

Poorly designed? I don't think so. With a proper bow support and placement. They work well. We actually don't like the fore / aft bunk type you describe as this placed loads along the scupper lines instead of the wells. We have seen some models where the scuppers push up and that transmits to the floor which gets distorted. The cradles are also compact for shipping.

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

Just to make it clear, I'm not knocking the cradle design in any way shape or form, I didn't buy the Hobie cradles simply because I couldn't afford them and didn't have the money to buy them. As a design engineer by profession I have the ability to design and build all my own stuff and do so regularly to save money, ( I don't have any), but I do have all the time in the world to design and make my own stuff.
I'm not promoting or debunking either the cradles or the pvc bunks, really none of my business what others do, I just described what worked well for me and my own particular situation, nothing more.
FE

Here are photos of one of my cracked Hobie TI Cradles. The other one looks worse. Judge for yourself if they are well built. They are practically new and cracked after only one and a half season's use. They were professionally installed by an excellent Hobie dealer. They've seen far less UV then they could have possibly been designed for since the only time they are exposed to UV is when I'm actually on the water. More than 99% of the time they are covered by the boat itself and/or in a garage.

These cradles cost me $280. As you can see it was not money well spent.







Don't get me wrong, I love most of Hobie's products and my TI is one of the best boats I've ever owned. I praise it to others every chance I get and I personally am responsible for at least four other people buying a TI or AI, probably more. However I will offer criticism of any product that I feel does not perform up to its expected use. This is one of them. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when they cracked after so little use. I was expecting them to last the life of the boat.

Matt, if you're saying this is not typical, and mine are defective, then Hobie owes me another pair. Will you stand behind this product with more than a rebuttal?

Make a warranty claim. We will replace.

I do suspect that weight could have been on the outer cradle an over loaded it, but who knows.

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

Matt,
Thank you. That is fair and much appreciated. Hobie obviously stands behind their products.

This one is admittedly a stretch but.....

Consider that, with polyethelene windsurfers, there is a significant amount of bending when somebody stands on the board - especially as a board gets "Soft" as the foam within delaminates from the skin and the I-Beam effect is compromised.

Extrapolating that to the AI, somebody weighing 220# sitting right at the apex of the concavity that I saw just *might* bend the hull back into a straighter line that if it were straight in the first place.....

*Really* stretching it, one could rationalize that that concave deformation was actually shaped into the design so that the bottom would be closer to true flat with somebody sitting on the boat.

It's going to be a loooooong winter.... -)

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]