Photography, Sailing, and future additions - first purchase

I'm an amateur photography enthusiast who happens to have the good fortune of living on the Outer Banks of NC. My wife and I just bought a house, which means we have somewhere to store a yak or 2 (though no money to buy them with, but that's what bank robbery is for).

I'm going to synthesize a bunch of the information I've absorbed from this awesome forum into this post as I illustrate my initial thought process in hopes that this may be helpful to someone in the future, and then I'm going to ask a couple questions. For the experts who have more answers than questions these days, I will Bold my questions for your kind TLDR convenience.

I started scouring the internet for photography kayaks and kept seeing Native and Hobie mentioned. I looked at the Natives and they definitely seemed nice, but once I saw the potential in the drive system, I was hooked. I had no idea this was a thing! My wife and I are also very much into kiteboarding, and when I realized these things can sail, well then I became extremely excited!

THEN I see these AI / TI behemoths and the videos of those, and I almost soiled myself. These things are awesome, and I can't wait to try them all out ASAP! It's been an exciting few days of discovery and devouring of information on this forum, and I feel like a caveman who was suddenly transported through time to now. Just thinking about all the ways I could put these beautiful water steeds to use makes me want to literally throw $10,000 into a Hobie dealer's face...

So now, I've been calming myself and trying to think of a rational path of acquisition over the course of the next couple years. I think the end game will certainly be a TI, but I'll probably break down before I can stow that amount of cash together and buy one of the less expensive toys.

We have winds that are constantly in the 18-25mph range in the Spring and Fall. The summers have plenty of those same days, but also a mix of lighter 6-15 mph days. I weigh 160 lbs and my wife is 130 lbs. I am a 5 minute walk from sound access and a 5 minute bike ride from a beach access.

For a photography platform where I'm shooting with a lot of expensive gear, the immediately obvious first choice is to go with the Outback. I've seen tons of videos and pictures of people standing up and fishing on it in calm waters, which is certainly a testament to its stability.

However, with the amount of wind and distance there is to travel here, it seems like the revo models are going to be much easier for traveling across the open sound / ocean waters. The further I can go, the more photos I might be able to capture.

Additionally, the consensus seems to be that the revos (and especially the revo 16 / Adventure with the dagger board) are going to be more fun to sail. Having a fun sail has somehow now eclipsed me wanting to keep my camera dry, and I'm looking at the revo 13, 16, and Oasis with the understanding that all 3 of them will probably be more enjoyable to sail than the outback. For me, each of these kayaks has their own strength:

Revo 13 - Most maneuverable in the water and portable on land.
Revo 16 (adventure) - Best upwind sailing performance. Best peddling performance. Not necessarily more fun of a sail than the 13, just more efficient. Some say it is a wetter experience, but generally both the 13 and the 16 are wet.
Oasis - The fun of sailing this would be that two people could do it at once. Probably more stable and less efficient of a sailer than the other two - hard to find direct comparisons there since its serving a different group.

I decided to drop the Oasis out of the running because if my end goal is to get a Tandem Island, then I'll eventually have a tandem kayak option.

So now we're back to the Revo 13 and 16, assuming they can be stable enough for photography. My thought here is that either of these two yaks can become stable with the simple addition of the sidekicks, but there is no way for the Outback to become faster. Yes you could buy the turbos, but they could also be bought for the other yaks. The counter argument is that sidekicks could be added to the Outback, but it seems that the Outback is already stable enough to where more stability isn't generally a concern.

Will adding the sidekicks to a Revo 13 or 16 increase the primary stabilization to the point where they could be comparatively stable for photography / fishing to an Outback? Could you stand up and cast just as comfortably at that point? If so, then doesn't the Revo 13 totally stomp the Outback in general all-around-ness except for storage / deck space?

Between the 13 and the 16 (assuming both have really good primary stability with the sidekicks), you're really trading the upwind sailing efficiency (but not the fun?) of the 16 and a little bit of speed for maneuverability in tighter canals and back channels.

Is there any difference in the sailing wind range of the 13, 16, and Outback with the standard sail? I'm really interested in having something fun to play with in the lighter winds before the kiting gets good around 15 mph.

If the TI is certainly in my future, does the 13 have less overlap in feel and functionality or is there enough difference in the TI in kayak mode and the Revo 16 to where they are completely different beasts?

I'm definitely going to try to demo all of these yaks this Spring and Summer, but I like to have my ducks in a row first like any good Millennial enjoying the raptures of analysis paralysis. I will return with my thoughts as they change. Probably after demoing I'll get the sport or something!

Many questions and quite an in-depth analysis of your requirements.

I have direct personal experience of sailing Adventure, AI, Outback (older hull), Oasis and Outfitter.

A couple of considerations that you haven't mentioned: AI and TI are both very wet boats in any kind of wind - this is not consistent with expensive camera equipment or cold weather (unless well protected).

The best sailer of the kayaks by a country mile is the Adventure/16 - this is down to the daggerboard which opens up upwind sailing in a way that none of the other kayaks manages. Compared to the older version of the Outback that I came to the Adventure from there was a very noticeable improvement in sailing ability in going to the Adventure, even without the daggerboard which I did not get my hands on immediately - the daggerboard gave the experience another step up.

Without outriggers you always have the risk of a capsize - I have been over maybe 5 times in ~seven years not only due to wind - surf is also a major hazard until you have got your technique sorted - that said, I haven't been over in a long while to the extent that I really don't worry about capsizing any more and I sail every time I go out, more or less - I just know the limits of the boat and its captain. I have said many times that I really prefer the 'without ama' sailing experience but then I sail in relatively warm sheltered waters, I do not carry expensive camera gear and everything else is tied onto the boat. It is a personal preference thing and there are various Aka/Ama options available.

The Oasis with 2 sails is a superb sailer and if you are looking for an entertaining sailing experience I highly recommend it (with 2 sails mark you). It is stable, dry, quick, powerful both under pedal power and sails, and soloable, either from the front seat - under pedal power or using only the foresail if you install one - or from the rear seat using either or both sails or pedal power if you ballast the front cockpit. You can also just about stand up in it in calm conditions if you have a crew with a sufficiently low centre of gravity though I wouldn't like to try that in anything other than calm conditions and warm water (I was doing this only this weekend with my other half in the front cockpit - me standing up to spot stingrays in the shallows and paddling the kayak with the paddle like a SUP - it was a bit wobbly but that was more down to me than the boat I think). The only downside to the Oasis as a sailer that I can think of is its relatively poor upwind performance due to the lack of a daggerboard (I am working on that one though...) - oh, and the fact that it is underpowered as a sailer with only the single standard sail. (BUMP: Hobie - please consider adding these features to the Oasis!)

Either way you have loads of choice and you seem to have a really good idea of your requirements and to have researched the relative sailing merits of the boats well and accurately. Whatever choice you make if you make it as wisely as you seem to be doing I do not think you are going to be disappointed: these really are fantastic, fun, versatile and unique little boats.

Hope this helps.

Stobbo, I appreciate the insights you've offered both here and throughout this forum!



This point is well taken. I had considered it moot because I would probably only be photographing when there is >5 mph of wind and calm waters, but as I started to think about it, another fantastic use of the boat would be to take it out while my wife is kiteboarding and use it as a photography platform.

Are any of these boats is stable / high enough to allow someone to anchor in 15-20 mph chop and shoot from without getting their gear completely soaked? I'd definitely be using the sidekicks in this situation and would leave the nicer camera gear at home.

My guess is that the Outback and potentially the Oasis might have a dryness advantage when anchored in chop compared to the revos - would that be others' experience?

I did some reading about adding two sails to an Oasis which does seem to be an interesting option!

I'm almost certain that I'll eventually get a TI, so now I'm thinking maybe my first purchase should be something more stable and dry since I'll eventually have a fast sailing kayak. So many considerations! Off to dig around the forum some more!

I thought you might say that about your intended use of the AI/TI in light winds only.

Chop varies from location to location - and it is not solely based upon windspeed but also things like fetch... but sure, you can anchor easily enough (though I prefer to use a sea anchor - I have lost a couple of anchors due to them getting caught up on something and if that happens you do not have enough buoyancy to be able to really haul on them in a kayak so you can end up just having to cut them loose like I did!).

My rule of thumb is that the boat is able to handle much rougher conditions than the sailor will so generally speaking I don't concern myself too much about "will the boat be able to handle it?" - I just end up not going out in marginal/dangerous conditions. You can still end up getting caught out and this has happened on at least a couple of occasions in which I have been a bit worried (though not unduly so) and the boats have all my boats have always been more than up to the task. I don't use outriggers at all except when sailing the AI.

The Outback and Oasis are the driest (other than the PAs) though you have minimal deck space for fancy gear. I am not a photographer so what I am about to say may offend some who are, but what about some of the waterproof cameras/camera covers that are on the market? I don't know if any of them will be up to your required standards. For my very low level of need I have a waterproof video camera that cost less than NZ$100, fits in a pocket and records half decent HD video - I know it is not up to much but possibly there is something along similar lines in the 'more advanced' category that might solve the problem for you.

One other thing that is worth mentioning is that "if it ain't tied on you will lose it" - this applies to fishing gear, electronics, camera equipment, daggerboard, hats, sunglasses, tools, etc etc - anything that sinks and almost anything that floats. It is worthwhile to start thinking about how you are going to secure all your stuff so that by the time you get your boat you have got a system worked out...