2015 Island Quality Control Issues

First off this post is not to dog the islands in any way. I love this boat and my family is very happy with it. I'm more curious if everyone is seeing these issues and if they are serious or just cosmetic. Part of me feels that for the cost of these kayaks a little more care should be taken to ensure a higher level of fit and finish. I've only had the kayak out once so far and it appeared to function as intended. Here are the issues I have seen.

Scupper holes look like a 2 year old cut them out and have alignment issues
Appears the mold shifted because I have overlapping at what looks like a seam (on the sides)
Rudder control handles are not timed together
Mismatched mast pieces (already corrected by dealer)

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2015 Hobie TI Dune

Your first two observations are an intrinsic part of the rotomolding manmufacturing process. In this process, granulated plastic is poured into a giant metal mold, which is then heated while rotating to dstribute the molten plastic.

Once the machinery is turned off aftr a predetermined time, it is opened and the new hull emerges. During cooling, this shrinks. This s to say that each hull can be slightly dfferent from the next.

The differences you describe are cosmetic.

Misalignment of rudder controls is a dealer issue.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

I haven't had any issues with my new TI other than missing a mirage drive. My dealer corrected that immediately.
It's taking a while to get my certificate of origin but I think it's on the way.

I did notice some chips in the HDPE at the rear seat securing button. I imagine they had to do some digging to uncover the brass insert. I'm calling it cosmetic and part of the manufacturing process but it could probably be done in a cleaner manner. No big deal.

Chris

The only issue I had was a miss-alignment of the rudder and rudder handles. That was quickly solved by simply adjusting the stearing lines.

@Tonyscott, I'm curious to know why you believe that the rudder alignment is a dealer issue? The factory runs all of the lines and attaches them to the rudder and rudder handles. All the dealer does is attach the rudder with the pin. One would think that the factory would align the rudder and rudder handles prior to packaging. This to me seems like a clear issue of QC in the factory build process.

As for the other stuff, clearly cosmetic.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

Not complaining but just saying we shouldn't dismiss issues in a new boat because they are "cosmetic". We pay a lot of money, across the board for nearly everything we do, for high-quality cosmetics. Women wear them (some men, too), we wash our clothes to remove stains, we paint our houses and cars and touch them up, and we decorate and clean our boats, etc. I lost respect for my homebuilder when they tried to pass off warranty issues with a new house as "just cosmetic". (Uh, okay, but I paid for a new home, fix the "just cosmetic" issue in my new ceramic tile that your contractor dropped their hammer on...)

When I buy something new, I expect quality and appeal, especially in something as awesome as the TI.

I am glad to hear that most thing these are just cosmetic. Was a little worried that there might be something else. Don't want to be 5 miles offshore and the hull come apart

I do agree with Lumos that we should not have to settle for just because it's only cosmetic

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2015 Hobie TI Dune

What bad is that we have to pay for them before we even get them. It's not like most of us can walk in and buy one off of the floor. Dealers around here don't stock them.

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Chris


2015 Tandem Island-ivory dune

Cosmetics are part of a quality standard and I would expect Hobie to have a maximum allowable mismatch on the seams.
I agree, for the money and reputation Hobie has certain expectations are reasonable. Stuff like rudder controls being properly set up should be checked by the dealer.
During the evolution of the hobie 16 several things were addressed and improved over time. I suspect the same thing is happening on this product.
One of the major reasons I bought this boat (now a TI and AI) is the name and the quality that it infers. My 16 was a great boat 20 years after it was made and I expect the same now.

The factory is changing the molding process for better scupper alignment. Used to be two flat posts that met together. Now a convex and a concave... should self align.

Hulls shrink and expand as much as 1/2 inch when heated and cooled. This can make a difference in control line tensions and handle alignments.

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

What I meant is that tiller alignment, if not spot on at the factory, is a dealer issue during pre-delivery. Some of you are happy to receive your Island as shipped from the factory, by-passing the dealer pre-delivery phase. My dealer has always cheerfully attended to any of my minor issues. That is why Hobie has dealers.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Aaahhh, ok. My dealer did go over the boat with me at delivery. I, however, did not have the opportunity to "test" functionality and I put trust in my dealer that everything was good to go. That should probably fall on me as a "learning experience" as this is my first hobie purchase. If I have the opportunity to purchase another Hobie I will be more nit picky. At the same time I don't think that my dealer should be having to adjust steering lines, rudder alignment, and rudder handles if they are set properly at the factory.
I respect Matt, but I don't buy the hull shrinkage/expansion explanation with regards to alignment. If that were the case then I would have to adjust my alignment whenever there is a change in temperature and I wouldn't consider that good engineering. If the hulls are shrinking/expanding that much with temperature change then Hobie may want to look at a material that isn't so susceptible to environmental conditions. Just sayin.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

Not my concept... This is a known fact. During initial cooling after molding the hulls shrink about 4%.

Control lines get tighter or looser over differing temperatures and one of the reasons we added the Boa adjusters to Pro Angler steering systems. I am sure it is a wide range of temperatures where this occurs and you would normally use the boat in a slim range, so may not notice a change.

It is a long boat. It is very possible for the distance between steering handles to vary a little and change the alignment. I'm not making excuses for the factory not getting it spot on, just that it can vary. Lines and knots may set under loads as well.

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

I can respect that answer Matt.
So, are the lines placed in the molds and the boat is molded around them? I'm just trying to understand how the cooling shrinkage plays into it. I figured the boats were rigged post mold and cooling.

BTW, I love my TI and I love the fact that I can have a conversation with a Hobie rep. So, please do not take my comments as anything other than curiosity.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

I too was curious about how/when the lines are run.

My steering handles are also noticeably off from each other and I've never seen a difference whether it was in the low 50s or upper 70s. We'll see when it's 100+ this summer... Are they installing the handles and lines while the hull is still hot from the mold? (Although I just looked at mine again and the way the handles are connected, the only way for them to have been in alignment would be for the hull to be *shorter* - the line between the handles is too short - so maybe they ran the lines while in a walk-in freezer? )

It also seems a number of us had a too-short steering limiter at the rear steering handle - that's about 1.5 feet long so wouldn't be affected by expansion/contraction. On mine it was clearly observable that the rudder wouldn't move fully in both directions. Is the system (supposed to be) fully set up and tested at the factory, or do they just install the same-length lines on each boat leaving it for the dealers (or end-users who opt to set up their own boats) to test and correct?

As Tom said, this is not a criticism from me either. It's curiosity and the unusual ability to get a glimpse behind the scenes, so to speak, talking with you Hobie reps here! Can't tell you how many times I've wondered "how in the world" or "why the heck..." about something but very few other manufacturers would even give me the time of day if asked. (I really enjoyed the TV series "How It's Made" where they'd show the manufacturing processes for all kinds of products.)

My most recent comments were:



They make adjustments for each boat and obviously have made some mistakes, especially on early boats as they learn the assembly process. We have fixed the limiter issue and have informed the assembly line about miss-aligned steering handles. In my mind there should be an adjuster built in, but not really needed if they take the time to tie, test, untie, test... you get the idea... it is kinda a pain to do the way they are having to do it.

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