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PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 4:51 pm 
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
mmiller wrote:
Fyi...

We have not seen a single crack in a drive well on boats produced over the last year and four months. That is a zero percent warranty on drive well cracks for boats in that range.

That is great news Matt. 8)
It may be bit premature to think the problem has been eliminated though. My second crack occured after 22 months of use.

Roadrunner wrote:
Aside from the annoyance, is it safe to use Hobies, knowing there is a possibility of getting a crack in the drivewell? In my experience with cracks, they start out small, leak a little bit and give plenty of warning as to what is going on. I have absolutely no concern about this as a safety issue.

I agree 100% Roadrunner.
Both my cracks started out with a bit more water than normal in the hull. I continued using them and each time more water would be appearing. The second crack was interesting. I was getting more water in, 10litres or so, and went straight to the drivewell, gave it a close inspection and could see no crack so I thought I may have damaged a scupper tube. I couldn't find any crack. Did a couple more trips, more water in, another inspection and there it was. It certainly took time to become visible.

ELM wrote:

As for the Mirage slot and cracking, is the problem just caused by forces and flex driven by the Mirage, or is part of the issue, tension from expansion/contraction and compression through different thickness materials. A bit like concrete and how it always cracks through week points where thick areas become narrow quickly, or indifferent to the rest of the area.


Good point ELM.





Thomas,
I would say a catastophic failure that causes the kayak to sink is extremely unlikely. Carrying the safety gear mentioned in this thread is a wise precaution though.
I did notice that swapping to the paddle decreased the amount of water taken on considerably. So if you are out in open water and notice the kayak is sluggish, unbalanced and sitting lower in the water, open the hatch and check.
If you notice water in, remove the drive and paddle or sail to safety.


Last edited by stringy on Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:03 pm 
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Roadrunner wrote:

Foot propulsion offers a huge advantage over paddling. It also puts a tremendous strain on the vessel, channeling so much thrust through such a small area. I guess there's no free lunch. Personally, I'll pay the price -- the benefits outweigh the cost by far.



AMEN to that! :D


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:16 pm 
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As you know, most went away back in 2006 with the brass insert change. Since then we have continued to refine. It has just gotten better and better.

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:49 pm 
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Agreed Matt- your products have improved greatly over the years I have been using them.
And yet my 08 and then 09 have cracked. :?
The real tragedy in this is that Hobie's reputation has suffered unjustly in my opinion.
You know what I mean?
Talking to other kayakers -"I've got a Hobie"
Response- "Oh yes. Has it cracked yet?"
The blokes I work with have been very harsh. They have all come out sailing with me and loved it but when my second hull cracked the bagging has been non stop. If I'm a little bit late for work (because I've been enjoying sailing the trip across too much) the response is always "We were about to send out a search party-thought you may have sunk!"
It's certainly their loss, but in a sad way, it's Hobie's as well. :(


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:57 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
You can't have innovation without things going wrong along the way.
Innovation is what makes Hobie great.
Goddam it, innovation is what made America great!!!
We can't ask more than that Hobie continues to refine their designs and rectifies faults when they occur. The whole Mirage Drive/trimaran hybrid is a bold new experiment in which we are all participating.
That said, Matt, exactly what refinements were made to the Mirage Drive setup 16 months ago that make it more reliable?

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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 5:26 pm 
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Location: Australia
stringy wrote:
chrisj wrote:
I wonder how this could be improved?
I'd like to see a removable drivewell module (similar to that on the inflatables) that could be replaced when necessary.


I have also long thought a bolt-in mirage well receiver (much like the i-series has) is a reasonable surrogate for the moulded well. That said, I do believe Hobie have improved the moulded well specifically in the TI and new Oasis models. If you look closely, not only they deeper (so much less chance of inadvertently unclipping click 'n go with heel), the ends of the well (where cracks were most likely to occur) are rounded, or concave in shape, whereas previous models are flat. Domed surfaces are stronger than flat ones, and I suspect this may be the reason for the change in shape. Haven't yet seen a single one returned with a problem yet either.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:22 pm 
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Location: Täby, Sweden
My replacement TI has now arrived in Europe (The Netherlands). :P I now wait for it to arrive in Sweden.

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Taby
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Sail Tandem Island No P1787 in the Stockholm Archipelago (some 40,000 islands and rocks)


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:27 pm 
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chrisj wrote:
That said, Matt, exactly what refinements were made to the Mirage Drive setup 16 months ago that make it more reliable?


There is no pinpoint change or date. It's a number of changes since 2006 that have combined to drive the warranty percentage down. Just to the point now where we see very little wrong in the area.

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:20 pm 
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Yesterday I eventually received my replacement TI. I am happy with the new boat which has the new rudder as it was manufactured in May.
This concludes this story with a Happy Ending :D .

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Bo Karlberg
Taby
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Sail Tandem Island No P1787 in the Stockholm Archipelago (some 40,000 islands and rocks)


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:08 pm 
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Congratulations! Have fun!

Keith

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