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Turbo Fins on Adventure Island
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=10403
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Author:  Tom Ray [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:19 am ]
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Thanks, stringy! I'm off to loosen some Turbo Fins. :D

Author:  donjoe [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:54 am ]
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The first thing I noticed when I changed over to turbos is that the increased peddling pressure causes some flex in the area where the drive locks in. The plastic where the drive seats (under the locking knobs) is also starting to elongate and deform. Maybe this is the cure.....I will definately give it a try. I was actually considering going back to the standard fins, maybe I wont have to!

Author:  Tom Ray [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:37 pm ]
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The extra power generated by the Turbo Fins must mean extra wear and tear on the Mirage Drive and the well where it is mounted in the hull. I'm not too concerned because I'm almost always under sail and never in a big hurry. I just stroke gently with the Mirage Drive when the wind is light and I'm unhappy with boat speed. I don't work it too hard when I'm under pedal power alone, which is usually just returning a short distance to a boat ramp after furling the sail.

Mirage Drive boats other than the Adventure Island, boats for which the primary source of power is the Turbo Fins, have to be putting a lot more wear and tear on their boats and drive units than I am. Most probably take more pedal strokes in one trip than I take in a month.

All this makes me wonder: should I really loosen my clew adjusters on the new Turbo Fins? I use them as daggerboards more than I use them for propulsion. I'd guess they make better daggerboards when tight. Anyone experimented with that question?

Author:  makenmend [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:41 am ]
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i'm pretty much the same as Tom Ray, use my AI mainly under sail. last couple of trips I removed the mirage drive( when clear of the shore) and inserted the plug ( with additional sealing tape) and as mentioned in previous posts I feel the improvement in boat speed. It means I have to plan my tacks better to aviod the "irons" but on my last outing with 1 hour of daylite left the wind just quit completely 3.5 miles from put in. so reinsert drive with the clews set loosly and peddle all the way back, to be met by moquitoes. I'm convinced that setting the turbo's loose is less stressful physicaly for minimal loss of speed and I also don't push hard thus hopefully avioding the leaks others have seen.

John F

Author:  TIDALWAVE [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:02 am ]
Post subject:  Turbo Fins will stay as an option!

My dealer just talked to Hobi and the 2009 AI will NOT come with the Turbo Fins standard...
You will still have to buy them as an optional accessory

Author:  ElementAI [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:44 pm ]
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WHy is that? TO avoid warranty claims on cracked hulls near the drive?

I will still be buying 09 AI anyway,

Author:  Yakaholic [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:02 pm ]
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I suspect Hobie's choice for not making the turbo fins standard is that many first time buyers either don't have the leg strength or built up the endurance to turbo fins.

The standard fins just make things easier for all users, plus they are more durable (ie the new user hitting stuff with drive). Once you get used to pedaling, and have the strength, turbos do make better use of your efforts.

For EZ liesurely sailing I leash the drive with bungie into the "up" position. But for speed runs, gusts of wind or boat wakes I give the turbos all I got leg wise in some power sprints.

The clew tension stays very loose & I use an older 6year old drive.

Author:  Tom Ray [ Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:26 am ]
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I never leave my fins up unless in shallow water. My thinking is that I need all the daggerboard I can get upwind, and off the wind they should lower drag by forcing the hull to go straighter through the water. Going sideways in a kayak makes a lot of drag. Also, with the fins down I think the back fin is "drafting" behind the front fin, like race car drivers do.

I have still done very little sailing with the drive removed, and have done no experimenting to see whether fins up or fins down works better in practice. Has anyone done tests?

Author:  Yakaholic [ Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:54 am ]
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Tom Ray wrote:
I never leave my fins up unless in shallow water. My thinking is that I need all the daggerboard I can get upwind, and off the wind they should lower drag by forcing the hull to go straighter through the water. Going sideways in a kayak makes a lot of drag. Also, with the fins down I think the back fin is "drafting" behind the front fin, like race car drivers do.

I have still done very little sailing with the drive removed, and have done no experimenting to see whether fins up or fins down works better in practice. Has anyone done tests?


With 2 Islands I can make comparisons. When out sailing on a medium reach, my sailing friend was using the other Island but was slightly slower and falling behind. He asked why his boat was slower given identical boats, similar trim and direction. My flippers were bungied, but I coud see his was not. After he fixed his flippers up he picked up speed.

When sailing upwind I usually pedal some to get boat to point as high as I can.

Flippers in down position make for the best "extra" daggar board but sailing all the time with down flippers exposes them to Manatees, crab traps, shallows & stuff.

Maybe lining up flippers in the down position is never perfect, or the water density and drag increases with depth? My GPS and more testing may be needed but bungied flippers seem faster.

Author:  ElementAI [ Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:56 am ]
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Wonder if Hobie did any Trials with drive fins as daggerboards during Testing and final development? Actually it would be interesting to see the findings/data of any testing/trials they did do on the AI in general. They did state that the AI was clocked at 11MPH at one point......

Author:  Tom Ray [ Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:26 am ]
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Thanks, Yakaholic. I think I'll so some more sailing with the drive removed. With one pedal forward, I hit it with my foot.

Author:  ElementAI [ Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:16 pm ]
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Can MR. Miller w/ HOBIE confirm that the 09' AI will not come with the Turbo fins on the Mirage drive? I would just like to here the official word on this and why. Thanks

Author:  gwiz [ Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:50 am ]
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The only Islands that ever came with turbos were those ordered a month before they came out. That was because the original info said they would. They changed the info but gave everyone who had already ordered a set of turbos along with the regular flippers.
gwiz

Author:  Yakaholic [ Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:34 am ]
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gwiz wrote:
The only Islands that ever came with turbos were those ordered a month before they came out. That was because the original info said they would. They changed the info but gave everyone who had already ordered a set of turbos along with the regular flippers.
gwiz


Ya, that was funny, but cool. I made a pdf copy and print out of Hobie's original write-up on their web site about the new Island including turbo fins. I pre-ordered my Island, so all I did was show the dealer my printout along with Matt's comments promising to honor the turbo upgrade for earlier buyers. Presto :o free turbo fins.

But, Hobie is like that. Standing behind the product in more ways than one.

I believe the '09 Islands will come with the new & beefier V2 mirage drive and the click-n-go drive well eliminating the cam columns & cam locks.

Author:  mmiller [ Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:55 am ]
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ElementAI wrote:
Can MR. Miller w/ HOBIE confirm that the 09' AI will not come with the Turbo fins on the Mirage drive? I would just like to here the official word on this and why. Thanks


Confirmed... Does not come with ST Turbo.

As noted, we started with some info (when the boat first came out) as coming with Turbo, but pulled back on that before they ever hit the water.

Why? We wanted the boat to be easier to use for most users. Turbos are harder to pedal.

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