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old newbie needs wisdom
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=40875		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  oldnewbie [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:57 am ]
Post subject:  old newbie needs wisdom
I need some honest advice. I have never sailed anything before other than my kayak with a downwind sail, ( loved it), but no real sailing experience.
My wife and I are 55 years old, but relatively fit as we bike and kayak when the weather permits. I just saw videos of the Island and am love.
A few quick questions if I may....

1. I live in landlocked Southern Indiana with no local distributors so I would
get my TI shipped. With no experience, would it be difficult to rig and set
up out of the box ? I worry running all the rigging would be complicated.

2. Is it fairly intuitive to learn how to sail the TI, or would I need pointers ?

3. Is it too heavy for old timers... we cartop on a RAV 4 ?

Are there any other things I need to take into account ?
I apologize if this is not the correct forum for this question.

Thanks
Author:  KayakingBob [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
Ok, youngster, we'll try to answer your questions. :)

The AI & TI are pretty easy to setup. Instructions are in English, not re-translated like most products today any you have all of us on the forum to help you when you are unsure, or are ready to get into trouble. Very few people have had questions on assembly, mostly on what the little parts are for.

I never sailed before I bought my first two AI's, as long as you go out is reasonable conditions the first few times, the boat will mostly teach you what it wants, with some friendly (heckling) help here. If you do it wrong, you'll mostly just sit there. When you do it right, you will know it.

The AI's are heavy, but not unreasonably so for car topping. The TI IS HEAVY! On land it's big and heavy, but in the water it's fine. I know of younger, fitter people than I (and probably you) that do car-top it, but most honestly will say it takes a lot out of them, especially after a long sail to do it. Trailering a TI is the best choice. Some on this forum have come up with partial solutions to handling it, if you do choose to do it. (I car-toped on my trucks racks twice, with help, and I hope not to have to again.

Good luck whatever you decide. Both boats are great fun.

You could come visit me on Maui and try both out for a few days.

-----------capacity----length---hull----assembled
AI - single -- 350# --- 16' long -- 80# - 120#
TI - double - 600# - 18.5' long - 120# - 200#
Author:  bluehen [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
Hi oldnewbie,

I think the TI assembly instructions are pretty clear, and as noted above, there's plenty of help & advice available here if you need it.

We got a trailer with our TI, but have recently built a setup that makes car-topping pretty easy. I'm 61 years old and healthy, but by no means an athlete. If you put the hull up & down by itself, you are dealing with a load that's 18'6" long but only about 100 lbs. - and you should only be actually supporting part of that weight - the rest being either on the cart wheels or the rack cradle(s). The determining variable will be how tall you are and how high the rooftop is that you're putting it on. I'm 5'11". See the description of our new rig at viewtopic.php?f=73&t=40698
Author:  rusty_sojah [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
i think you would want to trailer it; cannot comment on putting it together since i got my previous one already assembled and plan on getting my next one assembled next month as well.

as far as first time sailing i think its super easy to learn since the AI/TI is a really really basic sailing design based on some thousands of year old technology (3200 BC.). Since there are not really any moving sail parts you just aim the boat in a direction diagonal or perpendicular to the wind and depending on your angle of attack either move real slow or just moderately slow in an AI or TI. I would rate the TI at a sailing difficulty of like a 1 or 1.5 out of 10. The only time i experienced any tricky-ness was when huge gusts would come up out of nowhere out on the chesapeake bay and you would have to lessen your attack angle on the wind or point it dead down wind in order to reef (pull in) the sail since having your entire sail out in a high wind will make things get pretty exciting really quick. but thankfully since there is only one moving piece; either sail out or sail in, it is simple to handle.

there is some timing involved in it if you are in some strong winds and with my wife who was really new at sailing she often expressed that she didn't like me barking orders at her, so on occasion i would just do everything and tell her to sit there and look pretty :D
Author:  captkirk [ Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
About one year ago I was smitten by the Hobie Tandem at the Minneapolis Boat Show. Not wanting to rush into anything, I read all the forums which are incredibly helpful. Matt Miller is the epitome of helpfulness (and we hope Hobie appreciates this!) In order to justify the boat to she-who-must-be-obeyed, I scheduled a conference in San Diego last February and trialed a tandem at FastLane-check out their awesome videos:
http://fastlanesailing.com/news/25/58/Catalina-Adventure-Island
I even had the pleasure of a personal tour at the Hobie plant in Oceanside. We bought the TI in April and were able to sail it only about a half dozen times just because we were super busy last summer with graduations and trips abroad. It also helped that Practical Sailor gave it a thumbs up in an edition last winter. It's easy to rig and easy to sail even though inland lakes have flukey, irregular winds. And we beat our two friends in their solo kayaks around our 800 acre lake, but not by much as we've still not developed our 'Mirage Muscles' yet. We bought the trailer because SWMBO wasn't wanting to haul the boat with me-it's heavy! We're about your age and we want to spare our backs. Also, as you'll note in the forum, with a trailer you don't have to muck about with taking it apart and reassembling it. We're only an hour south of our distributor a little north of St.Paul and I hauled it down in boxes and assembled it in just a few hours. All the difficult rigging is done in San Diego. I wouldn't recommend the triple mainsheet option-too heavy for the sail in our mostly light winds!) It's a beautiful craft and incredibly versatile. Hope this was helpful!
Author:  rusty_sojah [ Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
what is the triple mainsheet option? thanks,
Author:  Jbernier [ Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
I think he's referring to converting the standard sheeting from 2:1 - to - 3:1... doing so though you loose the option of sheeting from the front seat. It wouldn't make sheeting 'more' difficult - it just adds to how much line you are pulling in and letting out for any given situation. It is actually 'easier' to physically pull the sheet in - but when you have to let it out it is slower...so there is a trade off.
At 97sqft of sail, the 2:1 works pretty nice - and having the option to sheet from either front or rear seat is a really nice option for two person sailing in my opinion.
Author:  rusty_sojah [ Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
so what are the benefits to the 3:1 option? is it more sail area or just a thicker better sail or what?
Author:  Jbernier [ Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
2:1 or 3:1 only refers to the purchase power of the pulley system that controls the sail - it has no effect at all on the overall sail area... the only benefit is that it makes it easier to 'pull' the mainsheet - the limitations are detailed in my earlier reply.
Author:  rusty_sojah [ Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: old newbie needs wisdom
Ahh, I get it. Wow I biffed on that one. All I could think of was sail and not pulley. I obviously didn't put my previous TI together, rather just enjoyed the hell out of it.
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