Florida 120

I took my new Tandem AI to Florida last week for it's maiden voyage. 4 days of expedition type travel. We had a variety of boats (23) from 14' to 26' in attendance. Self contained with cooking and camping gear on board.

We had strong headwinds (15-20) the first 2 days and not as strong tail wind on the return. This is the first kayak or Hobie product that I have ever owned or used in any fashion.

The boat sails fast. I was one of the first boats to our anchorage/beach stop each night even though I never left as early as others. I had double dodgers deployed and tramps. It was still a very wet ride. It took the first day to figure out that the plugs under the seat needed to come out or you sit in a couple of inches of water.

I was impressed with the performance - did I say it was fast. Traded tacks with a Holder 20 for awhile. Very easy to sail. Set the sail and steer. A gust of wind puts you back in the seat with acceleration as opposed to my monohull that just heels more.

I did experience a couple of issues. One of my aka pins came loose from the main hull while sailing (did I say that I was sailing fast). It was the leeward ama that folded in. I was able to throw my weight to windward and keep the boat up as she rounded into the wind with the help of a hard turn on the rudder. When this happened the fourth time, my actions broke the rudder cable for that direction. After getting everything sorted out, I was able to sail the boat to the night's campsite by playing the mainsheet and adding a little steerage with the paddle. It sure produced a bit of adrenaline high.

I lashed the connection and jury rigged the rudder connection for the last day (this happened on day 3) and didn't have any more excitement like that. Just more fast sailing.

After contacting Matt, he said that Hobie had just come up with a fix for the aka connection that they are tooling up for and will be sending out replacement parts for the aka tubes. I guess some others have had a similar experience.

The boat holds a lot of gear, especially when solo. I had 2 anchors, cooking kit, 3 man tent, sleeping pad, clothing, and more on board along with all the water that was needed for the 4 days and 12 cans of beer in a small cooler. I could have taken more. There is a lot of room for solo expeditions.

Even with the hazards experienced on Day 3, I wouldn't have traded boats with anyone else on the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed each day with my new TI. I know that any of you new owners will too!

Gary in Michigan

Gary,

Great post and review.

I am curious how you were able to fix/rig the rudder control.

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I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

Upon inspecting the "cable" run inside the boat, I noticed that there were two spectra pieces joined with an overlap. I took that joint apart and eliminated the overlap. This gave me just enough line to tie the broken pieces together outside of the boat.

I plan to carry extra spectra line in the future. I ordered 50 feet from Austin Kayak at .22 per foot. $11 is pretty cheap insurance.

Here is a picture someone took of me at the Florida120:




Gary

Could you clarify what you meant by 'aka pins'. Did you mean one of
the 'anchor bolts' which hold the aka bar itself to the hull? Or do you
mean the aka bolts which hold the brace?

I plan to be far from any Hobie dealer for the next couple of weeks and
am now worried about possible problem while I am gone.

Is Hobie going to contact us or via our dealers?

You might send an email to Matt.

I was speaking of the connection of the aka braces where they insert into the tubes bolted to the main hull (vaca). Here is a picture that Matt sent me to show what they are working on.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6570/castinglockreplacementp.pdf

and a quote from Matt:



Gary

Sounds like this is a "recall" reminiscent of Toyota.

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

One of My Aka released today, twice. A little scary for a few moments, but the TI's hull is so massive, it did NOT roll. I had hoped to have video of the whole incident, but the camera we were using fogged up before the excitement.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

As a precaution (or quick fix) you can tie a taut light line (spectra is great) from aka to aka across the crossbar when the amas are extended. This will prevent the akas from separating if for any reason one becomes unlocked. Works great and doesn't interfere with anything else.

That's quite a shakedown cruise! Facebook users, check out the Florida 120 group for lots of pics of cool boats on this trip.

I haven't received anything yet on the TI aka disconnect fix, but here's my spectra line leashes like Roadrunners suggestion:

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006