Down here is south florida we have a lot of really shallow water especially in the bays and backwaters. What we did with most of our Hobies is installed the large sailing rudder onto each boat, (we also had every boat rigged for kayak sailing, ( what we like to do). We sawed off the bottom 5 inches or so of the big rudders on all the boats so we could go in much shallower water. Didn’t effect steering at all. We then learned how to shallow pedal our mirage drives, (takes practice). So instead of the mirage fins going in a full arc, ( which requires deeper water), the fins work more like butterfly wings, so you can go in much shallower water. Once you get the hang of it, you can peddle almost as fast either way, (just cruisin, not tryin to go super fast of course). We can easily proceed thru 8” of water, I don’t think you can do that with any of the other pedal systems. The other systems also say they have reverse and Hobie doesn’t, realistically how often would I really need that, never... Besides the new mirage 180 drives now have reverse, ( though I would still likely never use it). I wouldn’t want to see one of those other drives after crunching over a oyster bed, ( you can’t see them until your on them). Another thing to consider is energy usage over great distances. How far can you pedal at say a walking/cruising pace, ( the amount of energy your body expends to get somewhere far away). I know of no other propulsion method more efficient than mirage drive for that, ( including paddling), we can easily go ten hrs with just a few short breaks, ( that’s what we do). We are not talking racing speeds here. My wife and I like to explore and follow rivers, with typically just me pedaling all day on our TI, ( in kayak mode), darn few boats out there are as efficient. I’m just talking about our TI here, don’t know much about the pro angler, or the Jackson. However I’m sure there are plenty PA owners that will chime in here.
My opinion is try both then make your own decisions, I’ll stick with my mirage drives thank you. FE
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