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PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:19 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
Posts: 1041
Location: Ontario, Canada
Before I had my Bravo, I wondered what it was like to tip the Bravo, and how easy it was to right. The answer, tipping is not at all violent, and righting it is VERY easy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdiYbAuCkns[/youtube]


Also... If you want to know how a Bravo performs. Here's a quick speed run video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZqd_rzn7o[/youtube]

I've heard people call the Bravo "tippy" It's surprisingly easy to keep upright, it's just fun to push it to the limits. It's a great little boat! I just got back from a week's vacation. The best feature. Dock to sailing in less then 30 seconds. Push it off the dock, unfurl the sail, and put the rudder down. Done. Awesome!

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:16 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:30 am
Posts: 1
augaug wrote:
Before I had my Bravo, I wondered what it was like to tip the Bravo, and how easy it was to right. The answer, tipping is not at all violent, and righting it is VERY easy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdiYbAuCkns[/youtube]


Also... If you want to know how a Bravo performs. Here's a quick speed run video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZqd_rzn7o[/youtube]

I've heard people call the Bravo "tippy" It's surprisingly easy to keep upright, it's just fun to push it to the limits. It's a great little boat! I just got back from a week's vacation. The best feature. Dock to sailing in less then 30 seconds. Push it off the dock, unfurl the sail, and put the rudder down. Done. Awesome!


-----------
Very nice!!
Hobie this is fast and fun?
You have more videos?


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:53 am 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
Posts: 1041
Location: Ontario, Canada
Just this one, that I posted in another post earlier.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNGteV-hjGU[/youtube]

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:38 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:16 pm
Posts: 6
Location: South Louisiana
Cool videos! I am strongly considering getting the Bravo over the Wave for several reasons. One of my concerns is whether the boat will "fit" my physical size. Looking at your videos, it seems to fit you pretty well and you look to be about my size. Might I ask your height and weight?

I would be using the boat mostly solo in a couple of lakes and bays with generally light to medium winds. I would like to take my wife along for a short sail now and then. Do you have any experience two-up? She's about 5'2", 150 lbs. and I'm 5'11 1/2", 170 lbs. Can anyone give me any ideas about how the Bravo would function with this kind of load? Also, how cramped might the boat be with the two of us aboard?

Any input would be appreciated.

Dave L.


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:52 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
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Location: Ontario, Canada
I'm 5'11 and 170, so we're the same size. I've taken another guy out who is about 185, and we were still able to fly a hull. It was more work sailing that way, and there's no question that the Bravo isn't designed to fly a hull with that much weight unless there are very strong winds, but the boat EASILY moves through the water, even fairly quickly, with the two of us aboard.

As far as having two people on board, the boat isn't really that small. I just tested it out. I laid in the boat from the front storage hatch to the back one. I fit inside the indented area. In other words, it felt very much like lying down on a couch (not love seat, but full couch) So if you can comfortably fit two people sitting side by side on a couch, then you'll be fine on the Bravo. Often times in lighter winds, I sit my passenger with his/her back to the mast, and legs stretched out parallel to the hiking straps. It's a bit like sitting in a lounge chair, and allows me to control how much the boat can heel, while the passenger just sits and enjoys the ride without ever having to switch sides when tacking.

Performance suffers a little bit with the extra weight, but it's still fun. It's a really playful boat when you sail alone, and I like to push the limits sometimes. It's not really all that tippy in my mind. It's fairly stable for such a little boat, and you can easily keep it level with a little bit of practice. Adding a passenger makes it more stable again, which I like, because most of my passengers want the thrill of sailing without the feeling like they're about to tip. When you're sailing, you know how close you are to going over, when you're a passenger, you just assume that if the one hull comes out of the water, that you're almost over.

I hear what you're saying about the Bravo over the Wave. The Bravo is an underrated little boat in the Hobie line-up. The roller furling mast is great if the winds are too strong, but I've never used it for that yet, instead, I love it because I can dock or beach the boat in seconds, and relaunch just as quickly.

I can go from trailer to sailing in literally 5 minutes (I had a trailer custom built for the Bravo, and that probably helps) but it's as easy as dropping the mast in place, securing that with the turn of a knob, dropping the rudder in place, and hooking up the sail. It honestly takes less then 5 minutes. You can't do that with any other Catamaran that I know of.

As far as taking the boat on small lakes and bays, it's great to take on small lakes because it's so manoeuvrable compared to the other bigger Cat's. I like the versatility because I'm also quite comfortable sailing it on Lake Ontario in good sized waves, with much bigger boats around.

Let me know if there's any other questions. The Bravo Forum seems a little less busy then the other forums, and that's a shame because it's a great little boat.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:33 am 
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Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:16 pm
Posts: 6
Location: South Louisiana
Thanks, great information. You answered my questions perfectly, and I really appreciate all the details. Sounds like the Bravo may be just about right for me after all. I'll keep you posted.

Dave L.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:41 am 
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Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2013 12:17 pm
Posts: 4
I really enjoy being out on my Bravo on the lake. We have it up at our cottage on lake Simcoe.

I am a bit larger than you and still is tons of fun for me. I am 6'4" and 240lb and still can fly the hull quite consistently.


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