Agree, when sailing offshore in tidal waters with currents.... safety is a must. I always wear a good PFD, have both marine radio, 2 GPSs, EPRB, cell phone, dry suit, Suzuki outboard, water and food.
I had a long sail in Chesapeake Bay a couple of days ago. Wind was blowing ~ 15 mph with gust approaching 25+. Had to keep on your toes. I always submit a sail plan to my family when sailing solo.... in case of an emergency.... on this day the winds changed up direction and I had to adjust my sailing route (sailing from the Susquehanna River through the upper Chesapeake Bay to the North East River ~ 30 mile round trip). I had to update my sail plan on the fly.... The wind, currents and waves were manageable in the TI. The tricky part.... It rained for the entire 7 hours that I was on the water.... decided to put my dry suit on at the boat ramp even before getting into the water..... to protect from hypothermia....which can be a real killer.
Per the original subject for this post, I have included a photo of the Capacity sticker on my 2022 Hobie Tandem Island .... now list 4 people but no change in the overall weight capacity (600 lbs). Thought there was another thread on this subject that I posted to but could not find it.
I sail solo most of the time, but when I have loaded down my TI with 4 people and close to the 600 lbs weight limit, the TI sails much lower in the water and carries additional water in the cockpit (coming up from the mirage drive well). The overall sailing / speed performance drops off also as you load the TI up. More weight on the TI = more safety and precautions that you need to take.
Hobe 2022 Tandem Island Sticker by
Jim Powers, on Flickr