Pedal vs. Paddle

Hobie builds some fast boats. Of course, there are always faster boats such as surf skis, outrigger canoes and some longer SIKs. But in the sit on top kayak group, Hobie builds some of the fastest boats around.

There is a major race here in San Diego where pedals are allowed to compete directly against paddles on a 5 mile course. The Hobie Adventure has won the "over 15'" SOT category the last 4 years running. A Revo 13 entered once and won the "under 15" category. A Hobie Tandem Adventure (actually Tandem Island in kayak mode) entered once and won the "tandem" category two years ago. A Hobie Oasis won the same category last year in its only entry. Seven Mirage Drive kayaks; seven wins -- it's no fluke. As a comparison, it also seems that worse the weather or the longer the distance, the greater the Mirage Drive advantage.

Races like this tend to validate boat performance as much as individual achievement. This is much different than when your buddy "Kilowatt" Jack blows passes you on the way to the fishing grounds even though he is driving a bath tub, simply because he is a skilled and powerful paddler.

Although majority of Hobie owners ostensibly don't care much about speed per se, many more do care when it comes to getting to a destination in short order, keeping up with the group or accelerating suddenly away from danger. It's nice to know you've got it when you need it.

Most of the serious kayak treks are generally done by skilled sea kayakers. And yet, I can't help but wonder when someone or some group attempts a serious voyage in a Mirage Drive powered kayak. A successful long distance trip or circumnavigation of a continent or other substantial land mass would go a long way towards validating the Mirage Drive as a viable transportation machine rather than just a recreational gadget.

I want to preface this by saying that I absolutely LOVE the Mirage Drive, and it's my preferred way to kayak. Having said that, the one thing that I miss with it, compared to a sleek, fast hull kayak, is the ability to glide. The Mirage Drive is faster, especially when you consider that the sleekest Mirage Drive Kayak (the Adventure) has a hull which isn't as narrow or sleek as anything that you'd consider to be a fast kayak in a paddle kayak design. But if you're out kayaking in a mirage drive kayak with someone else who is in a traditional kayak, you'll notice that the person in the Mirage drive kayak will be pedalling like this: 1..2..3..4..5..6..7.. while the person in the in the more traditional kayak will be paddling like this. ONE.......TWO....... THREE...... with long strokes, and more glide in between each stroke.

I still think that a sleek, narrow, lighter weight kayak, with a "skilled" paddler, should be faster than the best Mirage Drive kayaks. But having said that, there are no true Sleek, Narrow mirage drive kayaks, and the ABSOLUTE best thing about the mirage drive design is that it requires no skill at all from the user. To go fast, consistently on a paddle kayak, you need proper form. As you get tired, your form breaks down, and you slow down. A mirage drive kayak can't have that problem.

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Right, there is a certain skill required to be truly adept at a sea kayak in demanding conditions. No doubt there is some lure to that versus a Mirage Drive that is simply mechanical in more than one way.

Well I'm about to find out for myself. I'm a big fan of the mirage drive in my Oasis but this year I'm buying a sit inside traditional Kayak (probably a Necky Looksha 14) which I expect will give my Oasis a close race on short distances and hopefully teach me some proper Kayaking skills.

Anyone else have both types, if so what do you think about peddling vs paddling?

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2011 Oasis with Sail and AMA's
2011 Necky Looksha 14

Absolutely! How about 10 years competition (since 2002) in the Watertribe Everglades Challenge, an elite 300 mile competition (including 1st in men's singles, 2008)? Better yet, how about a finish in the grueling 2006 1200 mile Ultimate Challenge? Those who participate in this event have noticed -- there are at least 6 Mirage Drive boats entered in the 2012 EC 300 and two in the 1200 mile race. Not too shabby for a recreational gadget.

Yes, I thought so too, based on what I'd heard. So a friend and I put it to a test. A Hobie Adventure vs a Heritage Nomad (good reputation for speed and gliding, measures 16' x 28" -- almost identical to the Hobie).

His was converted to a custom prop rig, so both boats were a little "dirty" underneath. We ran side by side at around 5 to 6 MPH and coasted together. Amazingly the Hobie won by a large margin, which surprised us both. The wave trap appears to be deeper on the Nomad. Since his prop profile is about the same as the Mirage Drive, that's the best explanation I can offer. Bottom line -- despite being plastic with lots of hull openings, The Hobie engineers know how to build a fast hull..

Pedal power isn't for everyone. There is a certain tradition that goes with a paddle that many find compelling. Then too, some folks have great shoulders and no legs and find paddling easier. Finally, for those who kayak for exercise, paddling gives a more balanced workout. But when it comes to speed and range, Hobie Mirages can be very hard to beat!

My wife and I on lakes with moderate wind and waves can move the Oasis right along when we get into a good cadence.

Once I got the steering corrected, it became easier to get up to 3.5-4.5 miles per hour and maintain. We have maintained over 6ish for up to a mile.

The only semi race we got into was with a couple of friends and their ocean kayaks on our favortite lake. Going with the wind, we all averaged 5-6 mph for over a mile. On the way back, the wind had picked up. Our male friend kept up with us, and we thought that we might have to go back and tow his wife back to the launch site. He said that he could not have held up the pace for much longer. We could have probably done another mile or two. We often hit 6 mph when we weren't waiting for our female friend to catch up.

The distances and speed were measured by our Garmin GPSMap 76CSX.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

Roadrunner, I wonder if you have any info on how the Hobie SOT times for the races compared with the other categories' times - in other words: how well did the Hobie Mirage SOTs do overall, not just compared to other SOTs?

My wife and I sailed and pedalled for 6 hours up Finniss River on Saturday then joined friends in their paddle only kayaks on Sunday and ended towing both back to the start point under our sail. For those of us not racing, which at least in Australia is a majority, there is no comparison between the utility of an Island and any other kayak.

This is the bay we tied up at night and started our adventure.

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Cheers, Brian in South Australia
Tandem Island -

I am a HARD CORE Sea Kayaker, I do a specific weight training routine centering around maximizing paddling power.

Without the amas and using the mirage turbo, its no contest, I can peddle my AI faster and further than I can paddle my sea kayak, its not even close.

I'm a pretty serious mountain biker too, so maybe that has something to do with it

Comparing upper body muscles, even VERY well developed ones to the the leg muscles is apples and oranges.

EDIT:

Yes. The Adventure can mix it up with some of the faster classes. Weather certainly plays a role. Here are some comparison times for the top 3 places (in minutes). Note, launch times differ up to 1/2 hour, so conditions not always identical:

2008 (against wind and chop -- several capsizes). This works to the Adventure's advantage.


SOT mens singles 15' to 19' -- 56 (Adventure)*; 64; 80
SIK mens singles -- 53; 59; 61
Surfski mens singles -- 51; 52; 54
OC 1 men -- 83; 86
*This time included a brief stop to aid a capsized surf ski

2009 (good weather)
SOT mens singles 15' to 19' -- 52:44 (Adv);53:10(Adv) 54:22(custom prop); 67:15 (1st paddler)
SIK mens singles -- 52:58; 53:50; 59:31
Surfski open -- 47:35; 54:25; 63:21

2010 (good weather, shorter course)
SOT mens singles 15' to 19' -- 46:38 (Adv); 46:47 (Adv)
SIK mens singles -- 45:03 (custom prop); 46:45; 47:03
Surfski open -- 39:56; 44:44; 46:21
OC 1 men -- 47:13; 47:45

2011 (fair weather, shorter course)
SOT mens singles 15' to 19' -- 50:09 (Adv); 58:36; 74:54
SIK mens singles -- 48:32; 49:41; 51:13

In a head to head (same launch time) with a Seda Glider (19' SIK raced in "open" class) the Adventure won by 3 minutes in 2008 against weather. In 2009 the Seda won by 1 minute in good weather. Same guys both times.

Although the results varied, I would say in general, the Surfskis are fastest, then longer SIKs with the Adventure right behind, then shorter SIKs and any any SOTs (including tandems) and most SUPs. You never know with OCs. Obviously there is overlap depending on specific boat model and who's driving! Distance plays into this as well, with longer races usually favoring the Hobies more.

This doesn't apply to competition boats (ex: k-1s) or elite athletes, just standard issue people with off the shelf boats who like to go fast.

PS Wingnutt, nice action shot!

PSPS For those who aren't familiar with all the abbreviations,
SOT = sit on top kayak
SIK = sit in kayak (like Wingnutt's)
OC 1 = outrigger canoe, single paddler
SUP = stand up paddleboard

...interesting results. Thank you for taking the time to share the info.

Probably not enough to draw any hard & fast conclusions about which is faster/ better under what conditions and with what kind of person providing the motive power (not that this really matters unless you are a kayak racer). But probably enough to be able to say with a good deal of certainty that a Mirage driven Hobie is not a slow kayak by any means and should be more than capable of holding its own against most other types of kayak in a variety of conditions but particularly over a longer distance and into the wind.

I have been reading this thread with interrest since I have been racing my Adventure against other kayaks.

First, a "normal" sea kayak is about 17' (520cm) long and 22" (55cm) wide. They mostly have better glide than an Adventure. Therefore a "normal" sea kayak consumes less energy to propulse. This I consider as a fact. But it is also certain that leg muscles are used to work for long periods and that leg muscle groups are much bigger than overbody muscles. They also consume more energy.

Please read this (very good!) post by snj: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=33914&hilit=sea+kayak

When I compare to other kayaks it looks like this:
1km (0,62 miles)
My result (the only mirage kayak) 6 min 9 sek. 4 other kayaks after me and 33 kayaks ahead of me. 10 of them under 5 min.

5km (3,11 miles)
My result (the only mirage kayak) 32 min 27 sek. 3 other kayaks after me and 39 kayaks ahead of me. 10 of them under 26 min.

10km (6,21 miles)
My result (the only mirage kayak) 1 hour 7 min 29 sek. 4 other kayaks after me and 39 kayaks ahead of me. 10 of them under 55 min.

25km (15,53 miles)
My result (the only mirage kayak) 3 hour 10 min 19 sek. 2 other kayaks after me and 20 kayaks ahead of me. 14 of them under 2 hours 45 min.

The hull speed, or the speed where it realy starts to drain your power is too low in a Hobie Adventure for these distances to realy compete with other kayaks.

BUT! In strong headwind and in choppy conditions Hobie Mirage Drive is excellent! And in longer distances it evens out. If there was a competition with towing a boat the other kayaks would not have a chance.
When not competing, just making a tour with "normal" friends in "normal" kayaks, I have absolutly no problem with keeping up or leave them behind me...

thomas
(I have tried a surfski 21' long and 17" wide )

In my previous post, by other kayaks I mean SINKs and surfskis. There are just a very few SOTs that can possible be a match for an Adventure.

thomas