What color would you buy?

I believe I read somewhere that fish below see the kayak as a silhouette above them so all colours look the same to the fish, but they know as we all do that in reality the yellow ones look better and are faster, but we don't let on or else Hobie wouldn't be able to sell any of the other colours

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Hobie Adventure Island (Yellow Papaya)
Hobie Tandem Island (Yellow Papaya)

What's all this want'n to be seen you bunch of show ponies ? I'm giv'n Moss my vote. I spose I can understand the saftey point of view of the Hibiscus and Papaya but what's more important than safety ? that's right...fish'n. I also want to use mine for fish'n and you try sneak'n up on a Bass in a Hibiscus and Papaya and they would laugh their gills off.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

That's the best time to catch 'em....

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I try to be practical. And knowing AIs are used in the sun, I try to keep in mind:
1. Boats eventually fade.
2. Boats are "used boats" much, much longer than they are "new boats".

So, if given a choice, I would choose the DUNE color for it's "used factor" (ie; how good it will look in another 5 to 10 years).

A faded DUNE will only look like a lighter shade of sand. Very acceptable.
(Even an extremely faded DUNE would look practically white, I guess. Again, very acceptable.)
A faded YELLOW just looks like a lighter color of yellow. Acceptable.
(An extremely faded YELLOW only starts to look its age.)
A faded RED begins looking, ...well, ...it starts looking sad right away.

Is it just me, or does red SEEM to fade faster than yellow? (Or is it because the fading of RED is noticed faster than the fading of YELLOW?) I own both a RED and a YELLOW Adventure Island. I put 303 on my hulls and try to keep them out of the sun when stored for any length of time. But I intentionally keep the RED up north, where it won't be exposed to the harsher/longer months of the Florida sun. Also, because the RED is used on freshwater lakes and rivers, while the YELLOW will play in The Gulf and bays. (I wanted the extra visibility in the surf - and I go along with Kayaking Bob's "ground crew", and believe the YELLOW hull AND its sail stand out better.)

On a side note: I haven't noticed that one color SAILS any faster than the other. Hmmm, I'll just have to continue my vigilant testing...

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joanie / Hobie enthusiast: 4 H-14Ts, 2 Waves, FloatCat 75, 4 Adventure Islands, and my DUNE Tandem Island!
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What can I say? I never met a Hobie I didn't like . . .

Quick quiery,
Are the results from this poll going to have any effect on the colour choices of the AI? Infact, are the results from this poll being used for anything at all?
Some feedback from Hobie would be nice to validate the reasons the poll was run and to recognise those that spent the 5.85 seconds of their time to particiapte in it!

I would definitely agree that the yellow shows up long before the red does at any distance. At several of the Chesapeake Hobie Island Group meets, a husband & wife team show up with their mixed pair of AI's. His yellow AI is always far easier to spot than her red one.

It certainly looks to me like more people choose the better visibility of the yellow over the faster speed of the red. At the Summer Sailstice meet last June we had 21 AI's show up over the two days, 17 of which were yellow. Ever since then we've been encouraging our members to attach a colored pennant to the top of the upper batten. It's about the only way to tell one boat from another!

Happy Sailing,
- Jim L

Like this?


I'm ready!

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Hey, I'm the blue pennant! That's what it looks like, too. A three inch wide strip of ripstop nylon, about as long as the material roll is wide, with a grommet pressed into the tri-folded end. We just cable tie it to the sail at the top of the batten. Too narrow or short and you can't see the color from a distance. Too wide or long and it won't fly in an average breeze. Now we can tell one boat from another, and see the apparent wind as well. Of course, since our Chesapeake Hobie Island Group is now also Hobie Fleet 940, I guess we'll be wearing sail numbers soon.

Happy Sailing,
- Jim L

I don't know if the material is the same but we tested Dacron Sailcloth for UV-Stability in Hanglider Sailcloth in the 80's by stretching a multi-color "Quilt" of Bainbridge Sailcloth over a frame and leaving it in the feirce Australian sun for two Summers.

The "hot" Colors like Red, Orange and Yellow were the most resistant, the "Cold" colors like Green and Blue faded the fastest, with Dark Blue being the first to fade.

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Fair Skies, Max.

i really like the blue , but not available here in oz

Nor anywhere else... Only made in the Red, Mango and kit in Dune.

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