Will these upgrades be found on 2015 TI & AI?

He's just channelling Yoda.

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I'm back in northern NM where WiFi availability is only slightly better than the wilderness mountains of Washington, Idaho, & Utah.

The "handles" issue reminds me of a brainstorming discussion about 40 yrs ago when the topic was "what to do about rain on the windshield." One solution was to remove the windshield.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

“Happens to every guy sometimes this does”

One that I remember Keith is when all the guests at a brand new Hotel were complaining about how slow the lifts were. Rather than upgrade the motors which would have cost mega bucks, they installed mirrors in the lifts. After that there were no complaints. Apparently, when you have a mirror to look at, speed is not an issue. So perhaps they should install a mirror on the new AI

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

For bagging the new handles apologise I must.

I'm sorry Hobie but as annoying as they were I'd still much rather have them than not.



I hope you are correct Bob.
Remember this thread? Apparently the handles were tested on the TI but not so much on the AI!
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=35009&p=141674

I just discovered that my AI is missing the dagger bungee eyelet. I always thought it was a pain to hook it over the paddle holder cleat.

Of course I'm only speculating here, but I suspect when Hobie tried to develop the new handle for the AI they didn't have a two shot expert (like me) design it, and the mold didn't work. The problem was only on the AI (because the hull was too low in the water compared to the TI (the TI doesn't have that water funneling problem). By the time they got through that whole fiasco I have a feeling they had already decided to do a complete redesign on the AI hull. What is releasing next week is the culmination of two yrs of a really intense redesign program (yes that's how long it takes to design and get a new boat design on the market). So the special handles specifically designed to fix the problem of water entry on th AI was abandoned since they were working on a new hull design anyway.
I'm also speculating that they are now much more cautious of handle placement as they don't want a repeat of the last fiasco with handles so they are taking their time designing and fully testing their next handle design. It's pretty easy with the first few hulls to try out different handle configurations, once they settle on a favorite design they will modify the mold to the new handle design sometime before December. It takes about 6-8 weeks to make major changes and modifications to any mold, especially molds that size (they are huge). I've designed and built a lot of really large molds like that and nothing is easy or fast and I only know of a couple shops that can handle molds that big and don't know of any in their area so shipping the mold is a big factor (let's just say fedex won't deliver it in a box on your doorstep the next day).
The machining centers required to machine such molds cost millions of dollars plus many more for the support equipment and cad systems and very talented people (mold makers and designers) to use them, I doubt very much Hobie has the facilities in house to design and build all their own molds but I'm willing to bet they have a world class repair facility (those types of molds are very high maintainance).
All this is 100 percent speculation on my part, I have no idea about Hobies internal operations, but I'm in that business ( molding,,, not boats) and know it well.
I'm sure the mold for that handle is now an anchor bouy sitting in the harbor in front of the Hobie factory (lol), all of us have made a few of those.
Bob

Hi everyone ... my first time posting.

We owned a Mirage-drive Oasis tandem for many years had had a blast with it. Had a chance to buy a '14 TI this past summer and am glad I passed due to the new seats available on the '15 TI's. I have a question though that I can't find an answer to on this forum.

Due to our family size we plan on buying 2 TI's. I have seen side-by-side trailers available for transporting 2 TI's but I'm a bit worried about the width going down the road ... I'd rather not go that route. Rather than side-by-side does anyone have knowledge of, or preferably a web resource for above/below TI trailers. Ideally they'd be both sitting in their proper TI cradles. Any pictures you might have would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
SeaCrazy

SeaCrazy:
If it were me, I would mount the two TI's side by side, and during transport place the AMA's on top of the hulls (strapped down). Instead of the Hobie cradles, I recommend putting the boats on 1 1/4 PVC tubing mounted on 11 inch centers 10 ft long (will cost all of ten dollars). To be honest I have never seen another type of boat mounted on a trailer with cross mounted rails, look at pretty much every trailer for every other boat out there, the rails always follow the hull direction and support the hull uniformly.
We used to transport our TI with the AMA's folded in and the side of the hull always got scratched from the AMA's rubbing against the hull on the highway, plus our gas mileage wasn't too great, and also we would have to cover the boat to keep the sun and wind from damaging everything. Since starting to remove the AMA's and strap them to the top of the boat for transport, our fuel economy has improved, we no longer get sun and wind damage to the seats, sails, and all the exposed parts on the deck. It only takes 30 extra seconds to pull the AMA's off the top and just snap them onto the AKA bars (we leave the AKA bars installed, and contain them under our boat straps). We no longer need or use a boat cover. And best of all when we store the boat in our garage it takes up much less space, all the mirage drives, seats, PFD's, sails, and gear are safely trapped under the AMA's when traveling down the highway.
Another really big deal for us is if we have to take the TI's off the trailer then transport the TI's a few hundred feet to get them to the water on a scupper cart, it is almost impossible to transport the TI on the scupper cart with the AMA's installed (the fully rigged boat is just too heavy for me). Pulling the hull only with a scupper cart is no different than if you were pulling any other tandem kayak like the Oasis (pretty much all tandem kayaks are large and bulky). We simply walk the hull to the shore on the scupper cart, and walk separately with the AMA's down to the water , then just snap them on (we leave the AKA bars on the hull all the time, they stay out of the way when folded back, and don't weigh much).
With a side by side trailer it is much easier to load the boats onto the trailer at the waters edge, you only need lift the bow a foot or so, then drag it up on the PVC tubes, sometimes we are very tired when we come off the water and sometimes use our winch ($25 bucks at harbor freight) to haul the boat up (the easy way LOL).
I have never been a fan of the Hobie cradles, and don't feel it's the correct way to store your TI on a trailer, especially if you ever have to store the trailer in the hot Florida sun (we have to store our TI in our driveway at our Key West house (in the sun), and if I had Hobie cradles, the bow and stern would be laying on the ground by now ( I'm just sayin). If you look at the underside of the hull on a TI, there are two grooves on eleven inch centers running the full length of the center area of the hull, in my opinion the 1 1/4" dia PCV pipes is the preferred method for storing your TI on your trailer for long periods of time. ( Of course all this is just my personal opinion)
Of course you can do what you like, and I'm sure Hobie really wants to sell you those uber expensive cradles, but if you look at it logically, they don't make sense. (just my personal opinion of course). Our circumstances are probably a little different because we live in Florida, where it is very hot all year round, and the relentless sun destroys everything plastic or cloth.
Personally I just think an over and under trailer would be a pain, and it would be much more difficult to get the upper boat onto the trailer. With the boats side by side (with the AMA's on top of the hull for transport), the trailer will be narrow enough to be safe on the highway in my opinion (similar to a dual jet ski trailer).
Hope this helps
Bob

I was going to say do an over-under trailer. That would at least keep the width down, but might make it difficult to get the top boat on and off. I know I've seen some posts on here of trailer mods with car top carriers mounted on upper cross bars. I think I even saw one with two TI's.

I drank the kool-aide and bought the uber expensive Hobie cradles. But I don't think I will have the sun issue that fusioneng does in FL. Plus I plan on storing my TI in the garage.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

Thanks Bob and TI_Tom,

I'm probably going to have to go with the 8' wide side-by-side. But you're right in that it'll be MUCH easier to load both TI's.

Don't think I'll have a problem storing them for long periods on the trailer as it doesn't get that hot in Seattle.

Thanks for the responses,
Pat Mc

Do you know how to weld ?

... yeah, getting the top one on and off isn't fun, but my wife and I can do it and we're no spring chickens ready for the Ironman competition. I've actually only done it a few times this way. I think I am going to go for side by side with Ama's removed on the bottom .. with the Ama's strapped to the top.

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Alan W.

Papaya AI2 to replace my well worn V1
TheTwins - His/Hers 2007 Papaya Hobie Adventure Island's (v1.00.01)
.. and a Hobie Outback SUV

Man, I gotsta see the trailer hitches on those muscle cars..

On another subject, y'all have seen spyshots of the 2015 AI's taller mast and higher sail cut, required after raising the seat (for all the ablutophobics around here). Can you imagine what Hobie will need to do to achieve decent head clearance for the Vantage rear seat of the 2015 TI?

As it is now, you need to be Yoda-sized to tack the boat from there.

fusioneng
Bob, I am interested in your suggestion about pvc pipe bunks for TI storage on a trailer. I have a trailer I want to setup for full time garage storage of a TI I will purchase next year. When I have seen pvc pipe bunks for other kayaks they are usually made of larger pipe, say 3". I don't have a TI to look at as I plan my trailer modifications so I was wondering if there is something that makes 1 1/2" more appropriate ?
Also, do you know the height from the top of your 1 1/2" pvc bunks to the top of the amas when they are packed on top of the hull for transport ? The reason I'm asking is because I want to put a second set of bunks overhead for my Revo 13 or maybe a storage box but want to leave a comfortable space below for loading the future TI. Taking the amas off allows me to fit the TI on my 36" wide trailer frame between the uprights for the upper level.
Thanks
Chris