H Bar mounting question on 2015 PA 12

Just bought a new (demo) 2015 PA 12 and am setting it up for fly fishing. I bought and am trying to mount an H Bar on it. If I follow the directions on the YouTube video provided by Hobie, the H Bar would protrude beyond the bow by about 4-6 inches in the folded down position. That is because the front legs of the H Bar are to be mounted just 2" back of the front of the black plastic accessory plate. (The back legs attach to the H Rail.) To me, this looks horrible, and functionally speaking, it would sit on top of my arm when using the carry handle. It wasn't that way on the 2012 PA 12, or on any other boat I have seen.

I called customer support and posed the question and was told that I shouldn't worry about the looks of it, but should focus more on the functionality of it. That makes sense, but still -- it looks really weird to me. Also, I laid the folded bar down to mock it up, and there is nothing to hold it up except for the areas of attachment. In other words, on all other boats the boat itself holds the weight of the H Bar, but on my PA 12, I am supposed to let the screws in the plastic and the H Rail hold it in place.

I posed the question about just moving it back about 6 inches, and was told that it would be too far back towards me when in use and wouldn't hit me right. This doesn't make sense to me because the legs telescope and it is adjustable.

Has anyone on the forum had any experience with the H Bar on the PA 12? Has anyone tried mounting it back a few inches so it will lay on the boat itself?

Thanks for any advice on this.

Morgan shows how you can expect your H-Bar to sit on a 2015 PA 12. As the video depicts, the H-Bar extends a bit beyond the bow handle but that's okay. There's enough support provided with the bars partially resting on the hull. It's important to mock up the placement of the H-Bar prior to mounting, to see how it's going to hit your waist, etc. If you feel like you can afford the space to move it back, then go for it. It really comes down to personal preference.

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Howie Strech
Parts & Accessories Product Manager
Hobie Cat USA

Thanks! Wish me luck!