i14t max rear seat weight when solo

on the hobie site they list the max rear seat weight when soloing for the outfitter and the oasis, but not for the i14t.

does anyone know what the max rear seat weight when soloing might be?

my situation: about 50% of the time I will be solo, and the other 50% of the time I will have my daughter with me. the i14t would handle the two up situation best, but may lack in the solo arena given that me + wearable gear is almost 300#. the i12s would handle that and I could likely add a basic clip in kayak seat in the rear for my daughter (100#), but I'm not sure how well that would work.

there is also the possibility of having an adult passenger rather than my daughter, which wouldn't likely be well received in the i12s.

I could add some weight to the front when I solo the i14t to help offset the heavy rear, but I'd rather not need to haul around 100# of dead weight when loading and unloading.

thanks much

This is a good question. the best answer would be for you to take the yak to the water and test the back seat with no weight as stay close to the shallow water. Then get in the front and do the same thing. My guess, only a guess, is that you will not need to have any weight added in either seat. Just the gear you have with you would be enough for the treck. Good Luck

Sailing might be another question.

I think the i-12 might be a better choice for you. Notice how the stern squats on the i-14T with this (200# +/-?) guy soloing.

Unlike hardshells, the flexible hull makes ballast useless here. Soloing from the front seat would be great if you had rudder control, but that's not the case.

With the i-12, your weight is centered.


There's plenty of room (and capacity) to rig a second seat behind you. Here the rear passenger is perhaps about 6' tall and 220 # (about 400 # combined):


Even the diminutive i-9 can handle 2 adults if pressed (about 350# here +/-):

(Obviously the i-12 has much more rear deck space.)

thanks much for the pictures. they definitively show that neither of the inflatables will work as I had hoped. the waters I will be using the kayak in, while not exactly offshore do behave that way. I'll need to be able to handle 3 to 6 foot swells and with the rear dragging that much solo on the i14t and tandem on the i12s, I'm going to have to figure something else out.

I think the TI would be the best solution, but the price point makes the wife leery, so I'm hunting through the other models trying to find something I can make work.

Take a close look at the newly redesigned 2011 Oasis. It shares a lot of similarities with the TI (in the kayak mode), but much less expensive, lighter handling weight. The 550# capacity is very conservative. You can operate it from either seat; ie: solo from the front seat with minimal ballast in the stern. Great stability. Handles wind and chop well. Very versatile craft!

Here's a review with pictures: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=30997

Hi Grimlaf,

Roadrunner is the expert on these types of things, so if he gives the advice, it's worth thinking about. I have to say, if you're looking to take two people, have the room to store a hard shell boat, and aren't looking to sail, that 2011 redesigned Oasis is a NICE boat!

Tandem kayaking is a pain because you need to remain in sync while you're paddling, but the Oasis with a mirage drive is the best pure tandem kayak on the market. There's nothing like the mirage drive to take the conversation of "how to paddle together" out of the trip, and just allow two people to have a great time together. I've got a baby due this Spring, and I can see us selling my wife's Revolution one day and picking up a new Oasis. They're just perfect. The people at Hobie really thought it through.

(EDIT) I should add, even if you are looking to sail, you can add the sail package to the Oasis. It's no TI, but it's another level of fun if you're into that.

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I'll see if I can track down a 2011 oasis to rent/demo. I'd written it off as on the hobie site they list the max solo weight as 220#.
I've found places that rent outfitters, outbacks, and sports around here. Not much luck with the other models so far.

I wish hobie sold a hobie tandem with an island upgrade package I could buy later like they offer for the adventure. Then it would be a no brainer.

There was no front seat solo steering capability for the Oasis until this year. I think that weight figure applies to the back seat only with no ballast.

Believe it or not, there isn't much difference between the two boats. Both should have ballast if operated from the back seat. Here's the Oasis without ballast:


Here's the TA (also unballasted):


Now take a look at the Oasis solo but ballasted (just 55#). Not so bad!


But, since both boats can be soloed from the front seat, that is the much better option. Both boats run quieter (no hull slap) and faster (better LOA). There is little doubt either boat can handle a 450# solo easily in that position (although the TA seats are a little wider). I'm sure you've seen the photos so I won't repeat them here. In a head to head comparison, you would also notice the Oasis much easier to control this way than the TA.

The TI is a great boat but as augaug says, if you're not interested in sailing you're paying for a lot of equipment you're not using. Of course it would great if Hobie would sell the TA as a kayak, but that doesn't seem to be a choice for now.

Do get a demo on the new Oasis if you can and try it from the front seat!

Question for you Roadrunner,

In the picture below, (and in the article that you wrote up earlier) you show and mention that the stern sits a little high in the water when you solo from the front seat, and you levelled that out with 30 pounds of gear in the rear of the boat. Would it be safe to assume that if you happened to solo this boat with no ballast, that the sailing rudder would sufficiently eliminate the problem of the rudder sitting too high in the water?

I've never seen the sailing rudder for boats like these, as my wife's Revolution has the standard rudder, but I assume that it's similar to my AI's rudder. I would assume that the sailing rudder would go deeper, and that the steering response would be restored to at least what the standard rudder would supply, but maybe I'm missing some of the physics behind it.

(here is the picture I was referring to)


Thanks in advance for your input!

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The Oasis now comes with the large (sailing) rudder as standard equipment. In the following pic, you can see that, even with the stern a little high, there is plenty of rudder below the boat and control is not an issue:


Most boats perform best most of the time when they are level in the water or "on their (design) lines" The primary purpose of the ballast is to accomplish that. Obviously rudder authority would increase as well as more if it engages the water.The large (sailing) rudder is the same for all hardshell models (except the TI and 2011 AI). It has double the surface area as the standard rudder. Not only is it deeper, but much broader. the following pic shows the standard rudder overlaid on the large rudder:


On all the boat models, the performance difference is significant -- it's like getting racing tires for your car. Response is quicker and snappier, turn radius is reduced, directional stability is enhanced and low speed control is greatly extended. As an experiment, try your AI rudder on your wife's Revolution and see what you think (they can be swapped out in less than 10 minutes).