TWO PEOPLE ON BOARD THE NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND - IS IT SAFE?

Dear Members,

First of all please forgive any spelling errors, as english is not my mother tongue.
I am researching a lot and taking into consideration a many different things in order to decide if I should buy an Adventure Island or a Tandem Island to sail here in northeast Brazil.
My greatest interest about these boats is their capability of coastal cruising, going a few miles offshore. I would very much like to hop from one beach to another, and sometimes visit islands not too far offshore. I also think of fishing offshore, a few miles from the beach.
I would prefer to do some of these things, specially to cruise, in the company of a friend, or maybe my of wife or one of my sons who are 19 and 17. I am not sure, however, of how often thess people will be available or willing to sail with me, kind of hard to tell it in advance. All I can say is that my wife and younger son both promiss me they have interest in try to sail with me, in order to see how it is like. But if they will realy like it I cannot say or be sure. I just hope so and believe, yes, that they will. Anyway, I am pretty sure that in some occasions at least I will be sailing alone.
The adventure island has the advantage of being lighter and car topping seems perfectly possible with it. The Tandem Island, on the other hand will almos surely demand that I buy a trailer to transport it on the road. I do no think my Thule roof rack would withstand the weight of a Tandem Island on it. And a I kind of like better the looks of the Adventure Island.
The thing is, how doable, how fun and mainly how safe is it to carry a person on the Adventure Island Trampoline on offshore streteches, a few miles from the shoreline? Is it dangerous somehow? Is it unconfortable?
I have seen, of course, some videos on youtube on wich adventure island boats are shown carrying two people on board, one of them on the trampoline, the other one on the vantage seat. But is it ok and safe for a longer travel, of say, some 20 or 30 miles or so? Specially if we are some 2 ou 3 miles away from the shore?
I myself wheigh some 80 kilos an my whife some 65 kilos. My younger son wheighs some 70 kilos.
I suppose that fishing with two on board on the adventure Island must be totally out of question.
If its necessary for the sake of enjoying good company I will gladly spend some more money and buy the Tandem Island and a Trailer. I just would like to avoid to buy a more heavy and bulky boat it if it is not really necessary.
I appreciate very much your kind and experienced advice.

André Teixeira

There is a reason the AI has one seat and the TI has two...

It is possible to have another person ride on the tramps, but the AI is not really designed as a boat for two adults. Get the TI. It works great with two adults (plus a dog or kid) and is just as easily sailed solo.

I agree with Tom, unless you are solo almost all the time, you should get a Tandem. The Tandem is built for 2 and can easily carry a 3rd on hakas. Tom and I have experience with both the AI and TI. Others may chime in, but the answer will likely be the same.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

We have TI's and roof top them all the time. When roof topping you strip everything off the hull to get it on the roof. Our current TI is a 2012 and the bare hull weighs about 105 lbs (we weighed it), because you are only lifting half the boat at any time your lifting around 50 lbs, I lift the bow, place it on my head while standing next to the car with the bow of the boat by the rear wheels of the car, with the back sitting on a carpet behind the car on the ground. I'm not a big guy and I'm old, and have no difficulty.
Once centered on the rack, I slide the back forward a little so the hull tips up a little closer to the balance point, then I pick up the back and slide the boat forward. Hint, if you leave the scupper cart in the rear scupper holes, it make a great handle for pushing and guiding the boat forward.
We used to have an Oasis which is a little shorter and 10-15 lbs lighter, the TI is way easier to load than the Oasis ever was, I suspect because it is longer (less angle).
I don't know much about the AI, someone else will need to chime in, but I suspect the AI2 and the TI bare hulls are similar in weight, the TI may actually be easier to get on the car top than an AI2 (because it's longer).
The AI2 carries 400 lbs and the TI carries 600 lbs, i don't recommend exceeding those weights by too much.
Hope this helps
FE

I am not familiar with the AI but I do have a TI. It has a weight limit of 600lbs. I have found in my sea trials with it that number needs to be respected. The boat will handle overloading up to the point you get into choppy seas. Water will get in the cock pits weighing the boat down. Once the hatches are submerged, you are taking on water slowly but taking it on. Unless you have a bilge pump you need to head for shore. The AI has a weight limit, find the weight your people and gear it is less than the capacity you are ok.

Trident, I'm trying to figure exactly what you are saying and its significance. (1) The cockpits don't hold water and cannot weigh the boat down except when a wave momentarily fills them--they drain within a couple minutes. (2) In my experience, the hatches are never submerged unless the boat is full of water. Are you saying the hatches will be submerged if the 600# limit is exceeded? (3) I don't believe that "Hobie" has ever made clear whether the 600# limit is for the hull only or for the fully assemble boat (hull with amas). It would seem that the 600# limit applies to the hull only since the hull may be used independently of the fully assembled boat. It would be nice if Hobie would weigh in on this with a clear statement of what the "600#" limit refers. It is important because people get stopped on the water by law enforcement who apply the 600# limit to the assembled boat.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

I would get the TI. You can solo sail it easily, and have the flexibility to bring one (or more if you use the tramps or build hakas). I would also recommend not trying to car top the boat. Just spend the extra money to get a trailer. That way, you can keep the boat more or less completely assembled and just put the mast up and drop it in the water at a boat launch. So much easier! I tried hauling my TI about 200 yards to the beach, and it is a pain (which can be somewhat helped by buying the plug-in wheels).

I think the 600 lbs limit, or close to it, is correct for a fully assembled TI, ie. with Amas and significant weight on the tramps.
I have carried 4 people on my TI in calm water, 2 in the kayak and 2 on the tramps, 700+ lbs. There are three hatches on the TI - front seat, back seat, stern. With this much weight, The boat is sluggish and rides low. On my TI, the second hatch was completely submerged the whole time, but, the first and stern hatch were not, but, the water was close to submerging the first hatch also.. The hatch gets submerged because the boat rides so low in the water.. When I got off the water, the TI had the most water in it that it ever had... I tend to agree that the hatches leak a little when they are completely submerged. I did not like the way the boat behaved with that much weight, so, I have never tried it again.. It is also no fun, when you are looking at a submerged hatch between your legs.

Thanks for the first hand experience, hjdca. I'm not surprised that you did not like the way the boat behaved with 700+# load. I still think Hobie, who ever that is, ought to make a statement about what the "600#" limit applies to since the boat can be used without aka/amas. Presumably this limit was not picked out of the sky. Somebody must have made the decision about whether the 600# applied to the hull only or to the fully assembled boat. Your experience is helpful.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Well I have personally tested the buoyancy of TI and AI1 amas. To just submerge their top surface took approximately 330# and 220# EACH! I would expect each AI2 ama to support around 300#

I suspect that the CE label specifies the maximum load capacity of the HULL ONLY, as Hobie has no control of the configuration the end user applies (hull only, proas, tri etc)

Remember the maximum capacity does not have to take into consideration the sailing efficiency at maximum load, merely the maximum SAFE load.

My $0.02

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

Yes when heavily loaded the boat is sluggish (our TI), everything still works, but your not going to win any races, just fine for taking people for rides and just bumming around in mild conditions.
On a normal sailing day with a normal load solo or tandem, I tyically take in up to a quart of water during the day. When overloaded (more than 600#), that increases up to a couple gallons over the day, a little more when rough. Definately something that needs to be monitored, but not a show stopper. You should always carry a nice pump anyway (I have two just in case).
I just speculating here but I would imagine the AI when loaded down follows the same trend, but instead of 4-5 people we are talking 2.
Hope this helps
FE

My observation is that the weight limit should be based on --" the weight when any of the hatches submerge" - in any boat configuration... This is based on the boat ride height in the water. My observation is --- while the amas add flotation at the outside of the boat, they do not seem to aid much in keeping the water level above the hatches with heavy weight... I believe this is because the amas are mounted higher (for sailing and much less drag) than the normal water level, so, their flotation capabilites do not really come into play until one hatch is already submerged with weight.. I think this is the clarifying point. It is not about overall floatation, it is about ride height and keeping those hatches above water... For example, if both amas were mounted for 1 foot lower water ride height and were constantly dragging in the water even with zero passengers, it would probably take a lot more than 600 lbs to get those hatches submerged --- ie. because you have to completely submerge the amas first... But, that change would make for a very slow boat with lots of drag...

So, for me, even though it is not intuitive at first, it seems that around 600 lbs will keep all the hatches above the water in any configuration of the boat, and the amas do not really add much more total weight carrying capability because of their high mounted position -- in relation to "normal" water ride height.

Good points, hjdca. I would say, if anyone's hatches are underwater simply because of weight of people, supplies, gear, that is too much weight. Way too much. Hatches should NEVER be under water during normal operation.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon