walt wrote:
I somewhat felt like Hobie developed the reversing drives for someone who uses the boat to fish. Exactly how that benefits fishing.. I dont know since I dont fish. After owning these sailing/ pedal tri kayaks for about 8 years now, I dont get the need for the reverse. I would pretty much never use it. Maybe it was a marketing response to the pedal drive options where you can reverse.. dont know. I kind of prefer the simplicity of the "old" drive system and that you can just put one pedal forward so that both flippers are next to the hull. Ive sailed the last two weekends in a area where you can come up on sudden shallow spots and its nice to just put a pedal forward and immediately and easily get the drive out of the way. Being able to sail in the really awesome location below made possible by the Hobie Mirrage drive.
You can still tuck the fins up to the bottom with the pedals.
We waited until 2017 once we found out Reverse was coming and really didn't want to lose the reverse we had. We used it all the time on the SeaCycle (as well has turning on a dime).
SeaCycle couldn't tuck up the drive quickly though. And wasn't pretty when it went into emergency kick up.
There are some instances where it may be too shallow, like a rock just under the surface because the water was lower than expected or new area to us, but even with fins up and we want to power down/reverse quickly because the hull may hit something hard.
As long as it's smooth and reliable I'll take the option to go into reverse any day.
I for one think having the reverse option in the location of your photo would be great and I probably would never have the sail up or dagger board down there.