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PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:31 pm 
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Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:53 pm
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Anyone have any estimates? Any mods that make it more capable of upwind sailing?


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 4:08 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:21 pm
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Location: Central Florida
Roughly 45 degrees into the wind depending on conditions. Lighter wind maybe not quite as good. Under perfect conditions where you can make good forward speed, I've seen 40 degrees. More dependent on the right amount of sail (reefing).

Mele Kalikimaka,

Kayaking Bob


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 9:19 pm 
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Location: Punta Gorda, FL
It's not even 45 degrees in light winds, more like 50+. The boat slips a lot if it isn't going fast enough.

In stronger winds it does pretty well, as Bob said, but steep chop can be a speed killer and hurt the upwind angles that way.

If I really want to make some progress upwind, I "motorsail" with the Mirage Drive. You can take a break during gusts. :D

Edit to add: it seems to behave better all around with the Turbo Fins.


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 Post subject: Upwind performance
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:03 am 
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Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:24 am
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Location: Kansas City, MO
I was disappointed with the upwind performance when I sailed my AI the first time. Then I put the mirage drive in and the pedaling helped immensely. Can't give you actual degrees, but there is a significant difference.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:34 pm 
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I skimmed through a book in a used book store this weekend...it was specifically about sailing multi-hull boats...there was a section in there for tri-marans where they specifically said at certain points (maybe wind speeds or points of sail, I can't remember) that it is best to move the dagger board forward of something I can't remember exactly (something about moving it forward of the moment force generated by the sail), should have bought the book. But anyway, basically moving it forward at certain times would increase the performance of the boat...maybe using the mirage drive does just this, and allows it to point more upwind.

Did you try using the mirage drive as a dagger board with the fins straight down? Did that help it point upwind more?

It was definitely an interesting book, I'll probably go back and get it. It was also claiming that a trimaran of the same hull length will be faster than a monohull boat for several reasons. How fast do lasers get? Is the AI anywhere close to the speed of a laser?

I have a hand held GPS, and access to a couple different sailboats, a Rhodes 19 and Catalina 14. One day I might go out in the 15-20 knot winds we typically get here and see what max speeds I can get out of them and the AI to compare. Would be interesting...


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:53 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 3:39 am
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Location: Bairnsdale, Victoria Australia
I'll probably get tramped on, but I raced a lot in Lasers when they first came out 30 years back out and in wind and wave on a reach they seemed far faster than the Island is. They get up on the wave and surf in the right conditions but I can't see the AI doing likewise with its narrow beam and double ender configeration...Pirate


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:05 am 
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Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:53 pm
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I would agree with you, I wonder if it's just because the Hobie AI is a roto-mold plastic vs fiberglass? I'd still take the AI though, it's a way better fishing platform than any sailboat I've ever been on, haha.

J


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