What about carbon fiber rods for the fin masts? Matt?

I was at the hobby shop and came across these solid carbon fiber rods which reminded me of the masts on the Mirage drive. They are super stiff but bend considerably before breaking. They always spring back without permanently bending. I am thinking that they would react well if one ran into a rock, log or hit bottom at a high speed. They might absorb the shock better and resist splitting the sprocket better. It also might work well with the new stainless sprocket when they come out. I am wondering if Hobie Cat has experimented with them. Any opinions?

On another note, check out this kayak

http://tinyurl.com/2gzj7c

I would think the engineers have been through a lot of options. They are all on holiday now, so can't ask.

Always willing to have some input though.

Guys?

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

[Dear Hobie-Kayak-team,
first of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Christian Schuster living in Germany ( Bavaria, near Chiemsee), 43 years old and I`m an enthusiastic lying-biker. So the way to Hobie-Mirage-Kayak was not so far. At the beginning ( January 2007) I tried the "Revolution" now I`m sitting in the "Adventure", nearly every day ( only with the sport-fin)
I`m very fascinated about the Mirage-System as well as all persons who tried and try the kayaks.
But I`ve got nearly all ca. 150 km the same problem. The stick of the fin broke down threetimes. It`s a great mechanical problem to get it out of the mounting.
I`m happy about the forum to be able to write about problems and to ask the professionals. In the forum I found a picture from "Roadrunner" there is the adapter for the fin in steel. Is there the whole mechanical system in steele, with the cogwheel?
What would you think about fixing the fin in the adapter with a loctite?
What would you think about making the mounting of the fins a little bit longer?
I would be happy to hear from you.

Christian

Hi Christian and welcome to the forum.

From your description, it's not clear what your problem is. Is your mast (stick of the fin) broken off or is it falling out? Is the plastic hole cracking? Do you have a digital camera that you could post a picture with? Have you had any problems getting replacement parts?

The older Mirage drives had stainless steel sprockets (cogs). Hobie has ordered some new ones especially for anyone who wants to put them on their drive. They have not arrived yet though.

Have you tried sailing yet with tour Adventure?

[Hi Roadrunner,
thank you for answering. It was no problem to get the spares. But the screw didn`t fix the stick of the fin that it broke three times just like in the article .( picture)
"drive by splitting the sprocket?"
And so the hole of the plastic is so big that the fin doesn`t get enough fix inside.
I know I have to fix the screw before every use but I would like to improve it. My idea for improvement would be to make the mounting of the stick nearly 20 mm longer.
What do you think about the steel construction? Hasn`there been less problems with breaking sticks?
How can I send pictures in this forum?

Thank you
Christian