Fun and Games with the Revo 11

The Revo 11 is quite an agile performer. One of its most unusual characteristics is the ability to spin on its own axis with the rudder up. Here a friend is doing donuts (note the wake pattern) while trying to figure out which way to go:

At about 225# and 6' tall, he looks pretty comfy in the boat. Notice he has full leg extension and the pedals are not in the furthest forward position.

So what would it take to max out the boat? Well here the guy in the back couldn't wait for his turn so these two blokes just drove around together. With an over-capacity 345 lb. payload, the boat was a little unstable, especially with that fat guy in the back. For some reason, no one would volunteer to sit on the front for counterbalance.


A lot of people don't believe the Mirage Drives can go backwards. As you can see here, that's not exactly the case. In fact any of the MIrage Drives will do this, but the R11 really hauls in the reverse mode (about 5 MPH shown in the pictures)!

A word of caution -- if you're going to try this at speeds greater than 3 MPH, make sure your rudder is up first (as you see in this picture). Otherwise, you'll flip yourself out of the boat and may break the rudder as well. With rudder up, it tracks virtually straight in reverse, but you can steer with your paddle. Just watch where you're going!

The Revo 11 makes a great little explorer. It has good cruising speed to get you there, doesn't have much problem with wind and chop along the way...


...and great maneuverability to take you to some out-of-the-way spots. Checking out the extremes of the lake, this end was easy to get to:


But working back through one of the tributaries the R11 stood out. With the large rudder, the boat was like a little contortionist working through fallen trees, growing vegetation and submerged debris.






The Hobie Sport is very good at this also. Whereas the Sport's shorter length is even better for hairpin turns, the R11 actually turns better and has a slightly shallower draft. Notice above, using the "flutter" stroke the pedals never came out and the paddle was only rarely necessary for fending off.

No assessment is complete without riding a few boat wakes. While the Revo 11 can't quite reach the higher speeds of the longer Hobies, it still is a barrel of fun (if you like this sort of thing). Large rudder and Turbofins are extremely helpful in this endeavor, and those hand grips on the sides are handy for shifting weight to maintain balance.


Aside from goofing off and showing off, the Revo 11 is a great little adventure boat. Regardless of your activities, it beckons for you to come out and play!

Thanks for the photos, Roadrunner. Looks like a lot of fun. I currently paddle a 15+ foot light sea kayak, and it's not the best the craft for poking around narrow channels and hidden waterways.

For normal use in open water, would you say the Revo 11 is better with the bigger rudder option, or is the standard rudder okay? How about standard fins vs turbo fins?

Please tell me - what is that vertical rod with the red top? I know I've seen it elsewhere on the forum, but I can't remember what it is, and I can't search for it because I don't know what it's called...

Mary

The item you ask about is the hobie pieto tube speedo that plugs into
the hole in the front of your mirage drive.
water enters through the pin hole on the leading edge of the mirage drive, then rises in the tube where a small ball floats and shows your speed on a scale
thats printed on the tube. if you look very closely at the picture you can see the scale & the ball floating on the water in the tube.
very handy to get an idea of your speed when out on open water with no close shore reference to compare to.

Thanks, montedane.

Mary, the Revo 11 will run just fine with the standard rudder and fins. In fact, it's a good way to start out. If you're happy with your performance that way then you're all set. If you decide you want better handling or speed it's good to know you have options without having to change boats. It's like buying an automobile. Your car comes with the basic engine and wheels, but you can get more performance and handling out of it if you upgrade. If you don't need it, why spend the money?

On the other hand, our kayak is a recreational item and we want as much enjoyment for our dollar as possible. The large rudder enables the boat to
1. respond at a slower speed
2. have crisper response at all speeds
3. require fewer corrections on course
4. reduce the turn radius (except on the Revo 11)
5. sail

For $24 US I think it's an excellent value.

ST fins are more efficient than standard fins and require virtually no additional effort. They enable you to
1. cruise at a higher speed, longer range
2. improve your acceleration (if you need to get out of the way quick)
3. improve your maximum speed.
4. improve sailing performance (better "daggerboard")
For $52 US they install easily and allow you to get more performance out of your boat.

Turbofins are like ST fins on steroids. You can get ST performance with no additional effort, but you can up the performance even more by applying more effort. They also run at a slower cadence (for the same speed) which some people prefer. They're about $93 now and require a mast change (new masts are included). They are about 2" longer so they have a deeper sweep under the boat in normal operation. But they can be operated in as shallow of water as any of the other fins by using a modified "flutter" kick. Personally I prefer Turbos because I find them very comfortable to use and they they give the best performance for my preferred kayaking activities.

I would wager that the Revo 11 with ST or Turbos can match the Revo 13 with standard fins at any cruise speed.

The pitot tube is a great basic cruising tool, especially if you don't carry a GPS. They're not commonly used, but I really depend on it as an easy reference pacing tool; to indicate if there is something fouling the fins; and (in conjunction with GPS) to estimate tidal flow. Here's more information: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4288

A report with a difference Roadrunner. Very entertaining!
The end of your lake is a bit of a worry. You wouldn't want to have rudder problems at speed approaching this. Talk about sailing off the edge of the world!
BTW- I can't see the Pitot ball in any of your pics. Don't tell me the glue that was holding it up has finally let go?

Thanks stringy. It's not so bad when you can see the edge. But when it starts looking like one of those "infinity" pools, it's best to keep your distance.


Yes, the old glue finally gave way, so I decided to change it up a bit. It's now concealed by the top cap for a "total speed" look. Oops, it's already starting to slip again.

Now that's more like it!
Amazing shot of that boatwake ride. If the ball wasn't there I reckon you'd get a rooster tail spout out of that pitot tube.

Ok,I'm confused.How do you go backwards in a Hobie?
I use a Outback...............

Robin

Pull out the Mirage drive and put it in the other way round?

Roadrunner, did you edit your last post? I was sure you'd posted a picture of the other side of that "edge of the world" lake with water spilling over, but now I can't see it.

Mary

Mary is correct. If your model didn't come with the Reverse option, then manually reversing the Drive will do the job. With the Click N Go locking system it takes less than 30 seconds with a little practice. Several fishermen like this feature for moving water and/or trolling. Don't forget to readjust the pedal positions for proper leg extension.


Mary you don't miss much. The lake hadn't spilled over in 6 years so there was much fanfare when it happened this spring. I wanted to share a picture of it, but later decided it was self indulgent and off-topic, so I removed it.

Pity - I liked it. Half the fun of forums is seeing pictures of interesting places, and that was very dramatic. Go on - put it back

OK Mary -- thanks for asking. But since you already saw the one, these give you a more comprehensive view of the falls from a couple of different angles.





Hodges is a long, narrow lake. This shows the full dam. If you look carefully, there are three people on the road in the middle right below the falls to give you an idea of scale (115 feet of drop).


Hodges has spilled over only 14 times in its 93 year history. This year will probably have been the last time, as they just completed a connection to a nearby reservoir and plan to draw the lake level down in the rainy season to conserve potential overflow water -- a precious commodity in this region.

The overflow this year provided a window of opportunity to kayak into areas that are rarely navigable and often dry. In fact, my GPS tracks show the kayak covering a lot of dry ground in last year's Google Earth view of the lake!

Thanks, Roadrunner. It really shows what you meant by needing to be careful when you're kayaking above the dam!