New Tandem RECEIVED!

We had a chance to get the tandem island out on the river this past Sunday.
I have a few observations to share and some general opinions to give.
We took the TI out on the Estero River early Sunday at LOW tide. We launched in Kayak mode with out the Amas. We had to paddle a few hundred feet to get into water deep enough to allow deployment of the mirage drive.
First of all let me say that it is stable, very stable. Not as stable as a Pro Fisherman but stable enough to stand in without any trouble. I can even cast from a standing position but it is not as good as the Pro.
Paddling is easy and smooth and the Mirage drive was certainly the only way to fly imho.
This hull is heavy, I mean HEAVY. It is easy to motivate the craft and once up to speed it is easy to keep her motivated but if you turn sharply or just plain stop you really can feel the weight when returning to speed.
The two of us kept the kraft running the whole way to the inner coastal with relative ease but upon arrival there was an arriving storm, lots of lightening and two water spouts out in the bay so we turned arround and went back home.
All in all I can say that my Adventure is MUCH faster and easier to keep going fast... LOL but having said that the TI is way more stable in surf and passing boat disturbances, in fact it barely even rocks when large boats pass and seems to be far less effected by waves in open water.
One thing kept on popping in my mindis that, "This is fun". The hull is responsive but a little heavy, easy to propell but heavy, very stable overall.
At the end of the day I kept thinking, I can't wait for the SAIL!

Great report! Can't wait for some to make it out to us here in Hawaii.

_________________

Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Great review!

_________________

I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

I took my TI on her maiden voyage today! My impression was very positive; I had a blast. However, I did not realize how much constant attention the boat would require. I apologize for the rambling and unorganized review, but I wanted to get my thoughts out from today's sail why they are still fresh. I launched from Oleta River State Park in northern Miami. It was quite a day for a first sea trial of the boat given the wind was 20+ mph! I was out around 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. See the wind graph below of the location. The wind sensor on the ocean side was a solid 20-30 mph, the one shown below is in a more protected area.


One of my biggest questions when buying this boat was how fast will it go? I was a little disappointed. I will preface this with there was about 420 pounds of body weight in the boat and it was extremely choppy where the strongest wind was. The fastest I saw my gps read was 10 mph. This was actually in a calmer location of the bay with some stronger wind gust. Generally, 9 mph was about all I could manage. In the extremely choppy part of the bay it felt really fast, but I was only getting around 7 mph most of the time. I know the wind was 20+ a lot in these areas. I was able to bury the amas on numerous occasions. I ended up furling to about 2/3 available sail area and I was still coming close to completely submerging the amas at times. However, most of the time at least the front tip was an inch out of the water; the entire amas didn't go under too much. However, when it started getting close I'd usually steer into the wind a little.


I had read that the Adventure Islands were wet, but I had no idea how wet this boat could be. I was in the front seat and I wouldn't have been any wetter had I jumped head first into the ocean. At times it felt like an numerous full buckets of water were being thrown on me a once. But the conditions were pretty extreme with a lot of 2 foot chop and very high winds.

At one time I had furled the sail and was peddling directly into the wind and chop. With pretty aggressive peddling I was only managing about 1.5 mph until I realized my passenger wasn't doing any work. Once we kicked it into gear at the same pace we were managing 3.5 mph. I did very little peddling at the beginning to get into the open water. In calmer conditions we were doing 5-6 mph without much trouble.

I had a blast in this boat, but I did not realize how much work it would be in these conditions. This was my first time sailing so there was a lot for me to think about. I have been kitesurfing for 8 years so I have a pretty good understanding of the wind, but piloting the boat was different.

I did have a chance to take the sail in and out while underway. I set everything up before leaving but then found a few overhanging mangroves in the way so I had to remove and reinstall it. The boat was extremely stable standing up, of course, the amas were out. This procedure was very easily achieved in almost no wind.

The bad:
I came back with a torn up finger from the mainsheet. I could not budge this line once the sail filled with wind. I also lost the short batten in the sail. The other two came loose but I was able to furl the sail and get to dry land before they were also gone. I'm confident I installed these correctly, and after reading the manual when I got home, I know did everything per the instructions. I have now gone beyond what the manual says to try to ensure this doesn't happen again. A small piece of line attached to the clew that keeps the sail from unwrapping when stored went missing. On the way home I stopped and bought a short bungee and tied a very tight bowline. This bungee should work better than the small rope that came with it. The boat came missing a bungee that holds the amas to the side. It was a bit of a pain to launch and paddle out through a narrow area while also trying to hold the amas as it kept wanting to float away from the boat. (Note: Once I noticed the missing part, the dealer promptly contacted Hobie, and Hobie contacted me today to let me know they are shipping the part, and a few other missing items.) Also, days before taking the boat out, one of the front paddle holder bungees popped off. I will be buying larger washers to try prevent this in the future. However, I had no problems with them coming off today; I was careful not to pull on them.

The most frustrating part of the day was the missing batten. However, that did not overshadow an exciting day that left me with a strong itch to get out there again.

flaneur -thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.
It's getting cool down here and I have decided to stick with my AI for now - mainly because both my wife & I think she is unlikely to go out in it very often.
But I will continue reading everyone's reviews on the TI with great interest

_________________
Mickey
2016 AI Hibiscus
purchased NEW Nov 2021 - My 5th
Adventure Island Sailing since 2008

Thanks for the report.

The TI by calculations should be only (less than) 1 mph faster than the AI. But, with the extra sail and mast height, it should be easier and quicker to get to it's top speed without planing.

Here in Hawaii I tie in the battens every which way, so not to loose them. I knot to a grommet, then knot to the batten cap, then knot to the other side grommet and finally knot back to the batten cap.

You should consider making or buying a Sprayskirt for your beautiful new (wet!) boat.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=11179&highlight=

_________________

Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Thanks for the report. Although I do not have mine yet, I am learning new things with every report.

Reconlon : Can you post a picture or two on how to tie the battens down. I am trying to understand what I should do before I take my TI out for the first time.

_________________

I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

Have you tried the Tramps and Hiking out yet. You can leave alot more sail out and not bury the ama when hiking out countering the heel.? Speed should increase.

_________________
2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island

TxYackMan, I checked but I don't have a picture so it will be a few days before I can take and post a new pic. I'm resting after minor surgery and am limited to lifting no more than 10# for another week. I gotta be up to tip top shape in 3+ weeks for when my TI comes in!

I just tie a secure knot (square or multi half-hitches) at each connection point. It may not be as pretty, but I haven't lost a batten since. I meet many new AI's here, without one batten. Most have not even noticed that it was missing. Luffing in high winds or strong gusts really shakes that back batten.

_________________

Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Thanks for the response.
No worries, resting is more important.
I think I understand what you are saying.

_________________

I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

Are they the same diameter? So with some adjustment for height I could have an AI tall rig by buying a tandem mast and sail?

Edit: NOT Same drum. The TI has its own drum.

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

Aw, that's too bad. The jib I put on my AI is not a satisfactory solution for adding power in light air. It is too much trouble to deal with for the amount of extra power it produces. I want to be able to just grab a bigger mast and sail on those days, like windsurfers and kitesurfers do.

Any chance Hobie will offer a tall rig some day, Matt, or should I start working on my friend to build me a bigger carbon fiber mast?

Great review! Haha, buckets full of water had me laughing. That was like the 3rd time I took the AI out, and I went out in 20mph winds with about a 3 foot swell, I definitely had buckets of water in my cheese eating grin! It was way fun.

Honestly, 9-10mph with 420lbs of weight sounds great to me. The most I can usually get out of my AI on a good day would be 6-7mph. That's in a swell though, it's rare to find a place here with high winds and no chop/swell. I would love to see how it would do in single mode, but I guess you would have to hike out even more.

I would be interested in more peddling speeds. Maybe that's in RR's review, I'll have to go back to that. But if the boat only gets 1.5mph in single peddle mode, that's kind of a draw back for solo mode. Just today I went out with very light winds and a current against me, and I would need more than 1.5mph to make headway against the current with no wind.

Thanks again.

The 1.5 mph max speed was due to one person peddling a 190 pound boat with a 220 pound passenger into a 20 knot headwind with 1-2 foot chop rolling at me. In better conditions I can easily do 3.5 mph with a passenger not peddling. I'm sure it'd be faster and easier solo.