Hobie AI/TI Offshore Sailing – Zoom Event

Hobie Islands Offshore – Zoom Event by Jim Powers, on Flickr


The COVID-19 virus has turned 2020 into a tough year for many…..Quarantines, closed beaches, closed boat ramps and parks….lost of loved ones…

But the wind still blows…..sails and kites still move through the air…the waves still move (and squeeze a bit of salt water under my TI forward hatch)…

Edit Update: We are a go for the Hobie offshore / coastal AI / TI sailors Zoom event on Saturday August 29, 6-7:30 PM US EDST (New York)

A 90 minute video Zoom call with a handful of attendees presenting…Old Salts, Admirals, Captains, WaterTribe….. has been set up.

Many of us Island sailors have never met in person … only here on the forum….this will be a fun time to meet fellow Island sailors via Zoom video.

Process / Details / Next Steps:
- Post a note here if you are interested to help get a feel for the size of the group.
- Contact Jim at [email protected] to receive the private zoom invitation.
- Date: Saturday 29 August 2020
- Time: 6-7:30 PM (US, EDST - New York)
- Agenda: Brief introductions, followed by a handful of presentation on modifications we have made to our Island to support offshore / coastal sailing and wrap up with some Q&A time.
- Process: Have presenters share their screens and or do mini live walk around their Islands.
- Option to record the zoom call for others to view if they can not make the live session.
- Open and free for all with a focus on Offshore / Coastal Hobie Island sailing.
- If the interest is strong – perhaps to a zoom meeting 2X per year,
Please post here if you are interested.
Keep sailing!

Everglades Challenge 2020 by Jim Powers, on Flickr

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold

Hi. good idea. I am interested though its possible that just during te last part of august beginning of september i am out for a camping saling expedition.
thank u

I'd be interested in attending.

I'd be interested!

Thanks for the early show of interest. I will give it a week or so to see if we can get over 10 interested Island sailors to sign up.

As for possible agenda items....Please add your ideas. I am planning on sharing the following:

- Suzuki Outboard mount and how used for offshore sailing with the TI.

Hobie Tandem Island Outboard Motor Mount by Jim Powers, on Flickr

- A few ideas for updates to the Islands for offshore sailing

Hobie Tandem Offshore by Jim Powers, on Flickr

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold

What is the round thing on the back under the bungees that hold up the rudder?
It has a white top and looks about 2 inches across.
I’m about ready to pull trigger on a new AI since virtually all the ones I find on CL and elsewhere are 6-12 years old or 1-2 years old and almost same price as new.
Thanks 4 any reply.
(I’m in SW Florida, Cape Coral, ~70+ miles S of Sarasota)

I'm interested!

Windfield100 - the round object on the top of the stern of the TI is a Railblaza Mount. I mount my 4K Garmin Ultra 30 camera using a pole mount. I also run external power to the 4K camera via the port.

You will enjoy the AI (or TI). Recommend buying new vs. 5+ year old Island (many upgrades (Vantage seats, Mirage drives)). I have own both....prefer the TI.

Florida is a wonderful place to own an Island. I generally kick around Port Canaveral, Marco Island (10,000 Islands) in March each year otherwise...sailing out of the Mid-Atlantic region.

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold

Would love to attend! I am in Sydney, Australia though so depends on what time it is scheduled (if I am awake) - the time difference can be problematic!

I'd love to hear about anyone who has a Torqueedo electric motor as I am having a few problems with mine, anchoring, installing navigation lights, "hardening" the TI to be more offshore worthy (including how to properly protect against the amas/akas folding in collapsing causing a capsize), how to properly care for a drysuit, tightening rudder lines/changing rudder pins - particularly at sea!, general maintenance - lots still to learn!! and hopefully topics other's are very interested in too.

We could also share learnings from our offshore trips, I did my first offshore trip a few months ago and made a few mistakes or things that I now realise are important from safety perspective, be good for others to learn the easy way!

PS love your youtube videos Jim!

Hobie Islands Offshore – Zoom Event by Jim Powers, on Flickr

OK - We have enough initial interest to proceed with setting up an informal / fun discussion on our Hobie Islands and offshore sailing!

See details below:
- Date: Saturday August 29, 2020
- Time: 6-7:30 PM US EDST (New York)
- Zoom meeting invites with link and password will be sent to those signing up via the simple process below:
- Send email to [email protected] and include your name, name on this forum and if you would like to present a subject.
- I will reply with the zoom invite information.

Agenda: Introductions, define coastal/offshore Island sailing, safety tips, Island modifications for offshore sailing (individuals share their modifications via share screen / photos or live video walk arounds of their Islands kayaks, Q&A and close.

People can join up to the day of the event, just follow the above steps.

Free - no cost event - just for fun.

Looking forward to meeting a few fellow Hobie Island sailors via Zoom!

Stay safe,

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold

Great stuff organising this Jim, I'm super keen and I think its a great initiative to share knowledge. I will do my best to attend however the time is a bit difficult when converting to Australian time, as you are GMT-4 and we are GMT+10 so 14hours ahead of you. At 3pm Sat your time will be 5am Sunday for me. If it was an hour or two later it would work much better (hard to not wake up the whole house here!) but understand you can't cater for everything.

I will post it on my NSW Hobie Island Club group (we have over 100 members), hopefully some others are interested to attend too.

dammit,

Thanks for the feedback and comments.


All who have shown interest - please note the new time.

New time: 6-7:30 PM US EDST (New York).

Reference Zone: US/Eastern
Reference Time: 18:00 to 19:30 29-Aug-2020

-00:03:00:00 America/Los_Angeles 15:00:00 29-Aug-2020
+00:00:00:00 America/New_York 18:00:00 29-Aug-2020
+00:13:00:00 Asia/Tokyo 07:00:00 30-Aug-2020
+00:14:00:00 Australia/Sydney 08:00:00 30-Aug-2020
+00:06:00:00 Europe/Rome 00:00:00 30-Aug-2020
-00:06:00:00 US/Hawaii 12:00:00 29-Aug-2020

_________________
Jim
Hobie TI 2022 - Offshore rig - Outboard - having fun!
Hobie TI 2021 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie TI 2016 - Offshore rig - Outboard - sold
Hobie Kona 2014
Hobie AI 2015 - sold
Hobie Rev 13 2014 - sold
Hobie Outback - 2008 - sold

Thanks so much for considering, that new time works much, much better for me ! Hope it suits others as well.

Congratulations, powersjr2! This is a great initiative.

The time is not the best for participants in Europe, but I understand there is no perfect time for everyone. And I don't even own an AI or TI (my preference) yet, so I will not be adding much to the discussion, but rather learning from you all. I'll try to make it to the call. I'll send you an email.

Thanks a lot!

powersjr2:

Having done most of the mods you suggest on your pic, I can attest that most work very well.
1: My add on removable planing hull mod, allowed the boat to actually plane at higher speeds, only weighed around 9 lbs, but added more than 100 lbs of additional flotation to the stern. Brought our max weight capacity up to over 750 lbs. If I were to do it again I would make a removable slipper from bow to stern, with a squared off backside. Hopefully the slipper would add at least a couple hundred lbs of additional flotation, raising the boat in the water around 4-5 inches during most operations with a small crew, (which also helps get the AMA's higher). Personally I would prefer a slipper add on for offshore, (something the boat just drops into, and removable when not going offshore), so the boats regular kayak ability is not destroyed by a monster sized, (and way too heavy) main hull.

2: We kept the stock AMA design, (the current design is very good), However we extended and strengthened, (fiberglass rods buried in 4# urethane foam filled aka bars) the AKA bars were extended around 14" ea side, so the outside boat width dims with the AMA's out ended up near 13ft. Didn't effect the fold in function at all. Because the AKA bars are angled upward naturally, this raised the AMA's completely out of the water during most operations, and because of the additional flotation, (because of the much further out pivot point, I'm guessing around 200 lbs additional AMA flotation), it became nearly impossible to bury the AMA's underwater even with our massive 600 sq ft sailsets. The AMA's actually plane on the water, with nearly no drag. Definitely the most bang for the buck mod to the boat.

3: You only slightly mention a bowsprit, a 2-3ft collapsible bowsprit is critically important because the main mast is mounted so far forward on the TI. The fore sails need to be angled so as they create additional lift when on a downwind to prevent the boat from diving underwater, (what I call nautilus mode). Plus when giant sailsets are installed, without the bow extension you can't get enough air in between the 3 sails, (spin, jib, main).

4: Of course the mast topper design is critical on these boats in order to get all the halyards and furlers to work properly without tangling, ( I never had any issues with my designs). Increasing the height of the mast around 8-10" helps quite a bit.
5: We found twin smaller outboards to be much better balanced and gave us much better fuel economy, speed, and especially safety redundancy while way offshore, (lol yes the motors do go underwater once in a while especially in rough seas, but seldom effects both motors at the same time, and typically just starves the air enough to kill the motor, but easily starts again). Twin outboards ended up less overall weight than one really large outboard. For a while we had a pair of souped up Honda 2.3 outboards that were around 8hp ea, but that was overkill and silly.

I like all the rest of the suggestions.
FE