"Useful" weight capacities

I believe I have read that the arcane formula for deciding what to report as the weight capacity for a boat involves important factors like safety and stability. That's great, but not sufficiently informational for someone trying to decide which boat to buy. Ideally, there would be test drives involved, but that doesn't work as well on the secondary market. It would be great if Hobie could provide an additional weight capacity. That being, how many pounds of person can have a dry ride in a given boat? One would have to make some assumptions in computing this. For example, calm water and a casual pedaling pace.

This directly affects me. At 5'10" and 250 lbs, I am looking for a boat. I would like that boat to be a Revolution 13 (or Revolution, since I will be looking at a used hull from a year or two ago). If I assume that I will be carrying under 10 lbs of gear, will I be riding in a puddle? If so, how many hours do I need to spend in the gym before I can be mostly dry? Obviously, there will be splash and what have you, but that goes with any territory. I have been driving an older OK Prowler 15 and I have to have plugs in to keep my feet out of a continuous puddle. I'd like not to have that issue on my next boat, and Mirage boats aren't exactly plug-able in that manner anyway.

Thanks
-bob

bsee:
We bought our Revolution in 07-08 along with an Oasis and have had many good times. We traded the Oasis in for a Tandem Island (TI) a yr and a half ago. I used to weigh around 250# ( I now weigh 200#) and can only speak on these three models. They are all pretty stable and you don't sit in water unless it gets rough. I was very top heavy and the (older)Oasis seemed a little tipsy in my case, the revo seems less tipsy, even with me being top heavy (very short skinny legs). My wife and I would always go out with me solo on the Oasis, and her on the Revo, she would literally pedal circles around me taunting me to keep up (the Revo is a really nice boat). Now we have the TI it's a little bigger and much more stable, when solo kayaking it is faster than the revo.
Hope this helps
Bob

Bsee welcome to the forum. I don't know what formula Hobie uses to derive rated capacity, but it's obviously well below the actual floating capacity. For example, here's a Revolution (rated at 350 lb.) with about 500 lb. in it. You can see there is still plenty of freeboard.


Here's a Revo owner at about 6', 230 lb. He reports no problems with comfort, stability or intrusive water.


Fusioneng's first hand experience is undoubtedly your best gauge however.

That is reassuring. Where fusioneng is top heavy, I am bottom heavy. That's good for stability, though large legs pedaling is a significant amount of weight in motion. If I can expect a reasonably dry seat, then all will be well. I went for a wet spin in an older Adventure, but I'm not sure if the owner got things wet as he was launching the boat, or if water was generally present as a result of my weight.

-bob

Water will always be in the floor / drive well area. It surges in a bit when pedaled hard. That is normal. Floors are low so your feet can be lower than your butt when paddling. Lower seats are critical for stability. The seats have a high ridge below the thigh and typically prevent water from sloshing up into the area. Water over the side from chop or other sources is another story.

Best to be prepared to be wet. Wear proper clothing for the conditions.

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