chrisj wrote:
Augaug started on an AI, got hooked on sailing and eventually switched to a Hobie Bravo.
Yup, I switched... but it's not something that I would expect most AI owners to do (or TI owners). I switched because my wife had a Revolution, and I had an AI, and we would often kayak together, but whenever my wife didn't come with me, I'd ALWAYS be sailing, never kayaking. So we talked about getting a sailboat and the new Oasis. We really liked the tandem Oasis as a kayak that we could go out in together, and I wanted to try a different kind of sailboat.
After having switched, it was definitely the right move for me. But there's no question that the AI is the better all around boat. The best way that I can describe it, is that the AI is like driving a luxury Mercedes-Benz around, while the Bravo is more like a race car. The race car is faster, but you're sacrificing a lot of things for that speed.
The Bravo is much more of a workout in stronger winds, for me that's fun. For others it's likely too tiring.
I like that the Bravo can tip, the AI, it's not going to tip on you. I enjoy the skill of finding that sweet spot on my Bravo, while the AI was a better boat for seeing the scenery, and experiencing what's around you.
The AI was great in ALL wind, I was out with the kite boarders in the strong winds, and out on the smooth as glass lakes when there was no wind. A versatile boat is a boat that gets used. I recently took my Bravo to the cottage, and was only able to sail in 1 day out of 4. The AI would have been on the water every day. Living near Lake Ontario, when I'm at home, there is almost always enough wind for the Bravo here, but if you live in a smaller lake, the AI will get used more often.
At the end of the day, I love my Bravo just a bit more than my AI. But generally speaking, the AI, is the boat to get for a lot of reasons. Especially if it's going to be your only boat.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I think at heart, I'm a cat sailor. We hope to move up to the Getaway one day, but I'll always remember the trip that I did to Algonquin Park on my AI. That's the only boat in the world that could have done that trip. Feel free to search the forums for my post about that trip.