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PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:31 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:49 am
Posts: 33
trainsktg wrote:
MR,

A nice comprehensive review of the Revo 11.

I just had my first long-distance outing with my Revo 13 this week, and like you I too had alot of water rushing over the bow and into the front hatch. I am going to try to duplicate your rubber mat fix. I didn't have any great amount of standing water in the boat after several hours of these conditions, but the gear below was definitely more wetted than I would have liked.

The non-molded carry handles are nice when loading the boat, but the scalloped recesses under the handles act like sluices and channel water directly into my lap everytime a wave hits in chop over 6". I need to devise a spray skirt to fix this too I guess. Have you had this problem as well?

Keith

After leak testing my Revo 11 after a lot of water got inside following my self-rescue practice, I discovered that the hinge straps on the front hatch were holding the front lip of the hatch open and not allowing a seal. I put chaulk on the seal and closed the hatch and there was no seal at the front. It was obvious that the factory moved the attach points from the pre-punched holes in the strap. They most likely did that to keep the hatch edge from prying the seal off when the hatch was opened with the loosened straps. I readjusted for the best compromise, but have not leak tested yet. I did a write up for my local dealer who said he was going to contact Hobie. I have not heard anything yet. I think the design is flawed in this area.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:26 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 4:46 am
Posts: 35
The Revo 11 is a great little yak. Right until you lift the rudder. Then it is the worst handling kayak I have ever used. It wants to turn left. You fight like hell to keep it straight, then it turns right. And on and on. This has nothing to do with proper paddling. I've had a whole bunch of paddle kayaks, and I know what good paddling is. It's the hull design - fine with the rudder. Awful without it. This becomes extremely apparent launching or landing through surf, when the rudder must be up. The kayak lands sideways, backwards, whatever. You have almost no control. Launching is a struggle too. Other than that, great kayak.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:23 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:27 pm
Posts: 731
kross57 wrote:
The Revo 11 is a great little yak. Right until you lift the rudder. Then it is the worst handling kayak I have ever used. It wants to turn left. You fight like hell to keep it straight, then it turns right. And on and on. This has nothing to do with proper paddling. I've had a whole bunch of paddle kayaks, and I know what good paddling is. It's the hull design - fine with the rudder. Awful without it. This becomes extremely apparent launching or landing through surf, when the rudder must be up. The kayak lands sideways, backwards, whatever. You have almost no control. Launching is a struggle too. Other than that, great kayak.


Sport and Outback are worse, trust me I've owned both of those and Revolution 11 and 13s. I broke my paddle trying to launch my 2011 Sport into 3ft waves because without rudder or fins I kept getting turned sideways and pushed back onto the sand. Launching into anything 2ft or more is still uncomfortable regardless of kayak, but I find the Revos do it better.

There was a post on here a while back where somebody glued surfboard-style mini-fins to their kayak to improve straight-line paddling performance when the rudder and mirage drive were not in use. I was tempted to try that.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 3:24 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 4:46 am
Posts: 35
Jcanracer wrote:
kross57 wrote:
The Revo 11 is a great little yak. Right until you lift the rudder. Then it is the worst handling kayak I have ever used. It wants to turn left. You fight like hell to keep it straight, then it turns right. And on and on. This has nothing to do with proper paddling. I've had a whole bunch of paddle kayaks, and I know what good paddling is. It's the hull design - fine with the rudder. Awful without it. This becomes extremely apparent launching or landing through surf, when the rudder must be up. The kayak lands sideways, backwards, whatever. You have almost no control. Launching is a struggle too. Other than that, great kayak.


Sport and Outback are worse, trust me I've owned both of those and Revolution 11 and 13s. I broke my paddle trying to launch my 2011 Sport into 3ft waves because without rudder or fins I kept getting turned sideways and pushed back onto the sand. Launching into anything 2ft or more is still uncomfortable regardless of kayak, but I find the Revos do it better.

There was a post on here a while back where somebody glued surfboard-style mini-fins to their kayak to improve straight-line paddling performance when the rudder and mirage drive were not in use. I was tempted to try that.


I purchased those fins and plan to try them. It's a shame that you have to fix Hobie's design flaws. What the hell were they thinking?


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:37 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:27 pm
Posts: 731
kross57 wrote:
Jcanracer wrote:
kross57 wrote:
The Revo 11 is a great little yak. Right until you lift the rudder. Then it is the worst handling kayak I have ever used. It wants to turn left. You fight like hell to keep it straight, then it turns right. And on and on. This has nothing to do with proper paddling. I've had a whole bunch of paddle kayaks, and I know what good paddling is. It's the hull design - fine with the rudder. Awful without it. This becomes extremely apparent launching or landing through surf, when the rudder must be up. The kayak lands sideways, backwards, whatever. You have almost no control. Launching is a struggle too. Other than that, great kayak.


Sport and Outback are worse, trust me I've owned both of those and Revolution 11 and 13s. I broke my paddle trying to launch my 2011 Sport into 3ft waves because without rudder or fins I kept getting turned sideways and pushed back onto the sand. Launching into anything 2ft or more is still uncomfortable regardless of kayak, but I find the Revos do it better.

There was a post on here a while back where somebody glued surfboard-style mini-fins to their kayak to improve straight-line paddling performance when the rudder and mirage drive were not in use. I was tempted to try that.


I purchased those fins and plan to try them. It's a shame that you have to fix Hobie's design flaws. What the hell were they thinking?

Hobies are designed for rudders and mirage drives, which they do very well. But with the shorter models (and lack of a nice sharp stern) they just don't paddle well. I forgive them because I don't paddle much!


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