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PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:08 pm 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
av8erdunn :
It certainly sounds like a good deal to me, with or without the evolve if in good condition. If you do plan to go out in the gulf, it's a pretty good idea to harden the boat a little whether you have an evolve or a gas emergency backup, I have a Honda gas, and won't ever take the boat out without it mounted on the boat and a hundred miles of fuel on board, but that's just me. You can always get an extra battery.

The gulf can be very dangerous and a big blow can come up pretty much anytime without notice (sometimes daily in the summer).
Several guys have the Evolves for emergency backup and swear by them, it's so small and light even if you just have it stowed in the hull just in case it might be worthwhile. You have to weigh all that yourself.
Bob


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:01 am 
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fusioneng wrote:
av8erdunn :
It certainly sounds like a good deal to me, with or without the evolve if in good condition. If you do plan to go out in the gulf, it's a pretty good idea to harden the boat a little whether you have an evolve or a gas emergency backup, I have a Honda gas, and won't ever take the boat out without it mounted on the boat and a hundred miles of fuel on board, but that's just me. You can always get an extra battery.

The gulf can be very dangerous and a big blow can come up pretty much anytime without notice (sometimes daily in the summer).
Several guys have the Evolves for emergency backup and swear by them, it's so small and light even if you just have it stowed in the hull just in case it might be worthwhile. You have to weigh all that yourself.
Bob



Thats kinda what I was thining was getting something along the line of the 2.5 Suzuki I use to have on my Getaway and loved it. I can get that for less than what he is wanting for the evolve and I will have a heck of a lot more range if need be ( going to check on extra battery cost for Evolve). Oh the choices. I guess my thinking is, if I am going to have a back up motor I want one that will get me out of a pickle when I get in one.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 6:56 am 
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av8erdunn:
As you will discover once you get your TI, there is never a time you can't go out on a TI, wind, no wind, or even rougher than most dingies (like Lasers and sunfish are comfortable in). However we found out in south Florida that the typical winds around here are 5-7 mph on weekends 3/4 of the year. I'm out there every single weekend except when there are thunderstorms. We also found out the hard way that the gulf and intercoastal system is fricken huge, and going out and sailing at 3-4 mph in light winds gets boring very fast, and you can only go a few miles before being French fried out in the sun (no breeze to cool you down). Plus more often than not the direction we always want to go is directly into the wind.
This is where something like an evolve or a gas emergency motor really comes in handy. On top of that we only have two passes out into the gulf around here, and it is totally impossible to get through those passes and their 5-6mph current on a TI from the wrong direction when the tide is running hard.
When out I prefer to be traveling fast enough to get a breeze to cool me down, plus I want to actually get somewhere (3-4 mph doesn't cut it for me ( The stock TI goes .6 windspeed typically)) so I powersail most of the time anymore, basically run the motor at low rpm (about 1/4 throttle or 3-4mph with no sails up), once I put the sails up, the boat takes off to 6-8 mph (powersailing), of course you have to pedal as well (well I do anyway), and if I had a second strong peddler on board I wouldn't need the motor, ( ie with two peddlers the TI powersails fantastic). Well anyone except my wife who fake pedals ( LOL)
With the auxillary power of the evolve or a small gas motor, or two peddlers, the actual wind direction becomes secondary, and not important, basically you can sail almost into the wind if you have to. On the TI the Evolve is particularly attractive because you can have it in one drive well, and pedal from the other (the best of all worlds, especially with my wife on board). Since you would only be using the evolve in addition to the sail and pedaling it only needs to provide a small portion of your propulsion, and if you get a good wind you simply shut it off and pull it out. So the range will be much greater than you think, and a second battery (or even a third, or a solar panel) can be added to extend your range further. If your really green, and hate gas motors, this is the way to go, personally the gas motor doesn't bother me at all (the Honda is very quiet).
Only you can analyze what you want to do with your boat, for us we require a destination boat (our family SUV that can carry 4 passengers), basically it gets us to the sand bars and islands (Island hopping) where we go meet our friends, gets us to the gazillion beach front bars (bar hopping), gets us out to the good dive areas (nothing but boring sand in front of any of the beaches round here), and we also use our TI as our dive boat for scuba diving.
If all we wanted to do is sail and zig zag back and forth a half mile in front of the harbor we would get a Laser or sunfish, if we wanted to zig zag really fast we would get an H16, but none of those are destination boats, I have never seen anyone fishing off of an H16 or a Laser ever. Though the cats are great cruisers and you do see them way off shore having an absolute blast ( I would love to own a H16, F18, or a Getaway cat as my second boat).
We don't fish at all (except spear fishing) so I can't relate to that, someone else will need to fill you in on that, but I have heard is the AI/TI is the top off shore fishing platform on the market today.
This is all of course just my opinion, and I simply won't go out in salt water (offshore) without some sort of backup propulsion, whether you use it or not, typically when you do need it, this can be a life or death situation. It's a matter of economics, you can get an Evolve for a couple grand, or a Honda for a grand, the advantage the gas has is totally unlimited range, plus greater speed if you need it (8 mph on full throttle (with no sails up) if you really need it with a 6" pitch prop, but boy does it suck the gas). On a TI the weight difference is not enough to worry about (15 lbs evolve vs 27 lbs motor weight). I've had a gas motor on my TI for over 4 yrs now, and have never gone out on the water without it (never will), but that's just me. Basically I can go out and have fun all day, powersailing all I want for under a buck is gas, I'm out there every weekend.
My greatest fear with electric propulsion would be to get into a really bad situation (25-30mph offshore winds, with 3-4 ft waves, (which can pop up anytime in the summer without notice)), where a stock TI simply cannot make headway back to the shore, getting halfway back to safety with the evolve and running out of juice would be a bad thing. I have been in this situation many times, trying to get back to that tiny spec in the gulf called key west, or worse yet caught in the gulfstream (next stop Cuba or North Carolina), that's why I have gas propulsion and carry 150 miles of fuel on board, and carry a BoatUS membership with FM radios, and all the safety gear your supposed to have. Heck that has even happened to me more than once off Sarasota going out and back from Egmont key (next stop Houston). Most of the local guys around here have good stories about Egmont Key, and how it can turn bad so fast without warning with offshore winds, even if your only a half mile offshore.
Actually I've been told the Suzuki 2.5 is more powerful and lighter than the Honda 2.3 I have, and way less expensive. I'm happy with the Honda as it is very well made and reliable, though I am disappointed in a couple aspects. First being you can only get the stock 4.5" pitch prop for the Honda, nothing else out there, I had to refit a Tohatsu 6 inch prop on, it wasn't a big deal and easy to do, but for the life of me can't figure out why they wouldn't offer different prop pitches as not everyone needs to push a 2500 lb fishing boat. I had a 7 inch prop for a while on it, but lost it when I got tangled up in 300 ft of fishing line a few weeks ago (also wrecked and tore off one of my hydrofoils), wrecked the bottom end of the motor, and I was 2 miles offshore and 12 miles from launch at the time. With the TI being so light (250 lbs) a higher pitch prop makes a huge difference especially when power sailing. I would be all set with an 8-10 inch pitch if I could find one, where I could power sail to close to 20 mph without fear of over-revving and blowing the engine up.
Actually my next project will be a new motor mount (my original motor mount is over 4 yrs old and has seen better days), this new mount will have placement for twin Honda 2.3's (or I may switch to the Suzuki's), my plan is to build 10-12 inch pitch props, for it. I already have it all worked out and I should be able to average around 15 mph power sailing and only burn 2 bucks in fuel going out all day (I currently average about 7mph and burn about a buck in fuel all day powersailing). When not needing the second motor I can always leave it at home. I'm thinking with my hydrofoils on the boat (which I've had for a long time but never use), I should be able to powersail topping out around 30 mph (of course with the right props in winds over 15 mph, I used to race 3 point hydroplanes so I'm kind of a motor head).

Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 4:55 am 
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Alright the guy sent me the VIN so I can ind out exactly what year the boat is.
Now that where you guys come in, it doesnt seem like its long enough to be a vin number but maybe im mistaken.

HCCP0783

What does this mean?

EDIT: I just saw where there should indeed be 4 more digits on the end. Texting him now!!!


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:55 am 
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Bob,

How did you build your motor mount? Got any pics?

Jeremy


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 7:13 am 
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Geez, Bob, are you sure you don't want a power boat? They go real fast, and you don't have to bother with sails.

Keith

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"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 8:09 am 
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Jeremy:
My motor mount is as simple as it gets, I made it 4 yrs ago in an afternoon for about $15 bucks in materials.
Here is a pic:
Image

Here is another pic without the motor on there.
Image

It's just 1 1/2" PVC tubing with 3/8 steel rod poking thru the sides via drilled holes thru the tubing. I should have used stainless rod because the steel rod is all rusty now. I then took a 6 inch 2x4 pressure treated and drilled two holes in the end, and epoxied the steel rod into the board. The inside of the PVC pipe is filled with bondo body putty to secure the steel rods, and that's it.
My next version will be the same design but with another motor mount on the other side of the boat (for twin engines).

There is more to the design than meets the eye, if you notice the small piece of spectra string wrapped around the lower unit, that attaches to the padeye near the back of the boat and takes all the rotational stress from the motor because the rod holders pockets wouldn't be able to withstand that stress. That same piece of spectra string has been on there since day one (that's why I love that spectra rudder line material), and has never been removed. There is no load of any kind on the rod holder pockets, as they just hold the unit in place, and that all.
If you look on the forum, a lot of guys have way nicer designs. Mine was made out of necessity after the first day I bought my boat in April 2010 my wife and I got stuck offshore trying to come in thru the pass against the 5 mph current, and had to pedal for two hrs to get in, we were exhausted. I immediately got a free ticket to buy a motor and had this mount made the next day while waiting for the motor to arrive (true story), who would have ever thunk it would ever hold up so long, looks like crap, but still works on it's third TI now, go figure.....
The paper towel holder for the anchor line spool was just something I added later because 150 ft of 3/8" anchor line when laid out on the deck fills the entire passenger compartment of the TI (if you ever watched the movie Mobie Dick, I felt like Capt Ahab near the end of the movie all tangled in that stupid anchor line, so I added the paper towel holder spool for my anchor line).
Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:54 am 
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Kieth:
Actually I don't consider or try to describe my TI as a sailboat, it's a human powered hybrid pedal boat. The sails are not sails, they are giant amplifiers (just like the air conditioning unit on your house). Basically they take your forward motion created by the pedals (and auxiliary motor (either gas or electric), simply because I can't pedal fast enough alone with just pedal power). and amplifies the forward motion into usable power (thru apparent wind).
It's kind of a chain reaction or perpetual motion kind of thing, basically the faster you go (initial power) the more apparent wind is created, and the result is for every ounce of hp you put in you get 5x the output ( resultant force, exactly the same principle an air conditioner uses). It's not really sailing because your not dependent on the wind in any way shape or form (sails create a resultant force only), basically your forward motion creates it's own apparent wind so the boat doesn't care much if you have natural wind or not, and the direction of the actual wind in insignificant (just doesn't matter). That's why in low winds I can sail almost directly into the wind, and downwind my sails are pulled tight as if in a close reach (looks really strange because your traveling 2x the actual wind speed). The only purpose for the motor is to create my forward motion (the seed that starts the amplifiers). That's why I can go out and sail for 3 hrs at between 6 and 10 mph and only burn a dollars worth of gas. On my old 3 point hydroplanes, I had a 3 gallon tank filled with 3 gallons of alcohol and nitro, that would give be 10-15 minutes of run time (not very efficient at all).
It's just a hobby for me and something to do for fun, plus it's great exercise for me out pedaling my pedal boat 10-15 miles a week.
Our TI is our family SUV basically replacing our old 24ft Sea Ray with a 5 liter stern drive, where we would go out for the day and drain the 60 gallon tank.
Now days I'll go out all day for a buck and do all the exact same stuff we used to do on our powerboat. So I guess I'm not a sailer, I'm a cheapskate power boater who refuses to spend more than a dollar to go out and have fun for the day, and I am out every single weekend doing all the things I love to do ( LOL). We use that darn TI for anything and everything we ever could possibly imagine as our SUV family boat.
It will take me another year to complete, but when done with twin Honda 2.3 engines and the new main wing sail (still in design), I fully expect to for me and my wife to be able to go out on our TI and powersail an average of 15 mph topping out around 30 mph in low winds (3x windspeed with the foils), for 3 hours burning two dollars worth of fuel. (Currently we average around 7mph top out at 20mph (only in stronger winds, but we don't like to go out in winds over 10-12 mph anymore), and fuel cost for 3 hrs is about a buck)
The coolest part is the very next day we can go kayak the Santa Fe river ( http://santaferiver.com/) all with the exact same boat, that costs me nothing to store in my garage. Besides the cost of the TI itself and the motors, I have about $500 bucks invested in the boat to date (not including the $300 bucks for the trailer), 90% of what I have I made 3-4 yrs ago, and have just been using it all every weekend ever since (most of the equipment is pretty ratty looking these days (LOL)). It's just a hobby to me and something to do, I like to tinker....

Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:16 am 
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Yes, you do....

Keith

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:27 am 
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fusioneng wrote:
Kieth:
Actually I don't consider or try to describe my TI as a sailboat, it's a human powered hybrid pedal boat. The sails are not sails, they are giant amplifiers (just like the air conditioning unit on your house). Basically they take your forward motion created by the pedals (and auxiliary motor (either gas or electric), simply because I can't pedal fast enough alone with just pedal power). and amplifies the forward motion into usable power (thru apparent wind).
It's kind of a chain reaction or perpetual motion kind of thing, basically the faster you go (initial power) the more apparent wind is created, and the result is for every ounce of hp you put in you get 5x the output ( resultant force, exactly the same principle an air conditioner uses). It's not really sailing because your not dependent on the wind in any way shape or form (sails create a resultant force only), basically your forward motion creates it's own apparent wind so the boat doesn't care much if you have natural wind or not, and the direction of the actual wind in insignificant (just doesn't matter). That's why in low winds I can sail almost directly into the wind, and downwind my sails are pulled tight as if in a close reach (looks really strange because your traveling 2x the actual wind speed). The only purpose for the motor is to create my forward motion (the seed that starts the amplifiers). That's why I can go out and sail for 3 hrs at between 6 and 10 mph and only burn a dollars worth of gas. On my old 3 point hydroplanes, I had a 3 gallon tank filled with 3 gallons of alcohol and nitro, that would give be 10-15 minutes of run time (not very efficient at all).
It's just a hobby for me and something to do for fun, plus it's great exercise for me out pedaling my pedal boat 10-15 miles a week.
Our TI is our family SUV basically replacing our old 24ft Sea Ray with a 5 liter stern drive, where we would go out for the day and drain the 60 gallon tank.
Now days I'll go out all day for a buck and do all the exact same stuff we used to do on our powerboat. So I guess I'm not a sailer, I'm a cheapskate power boater who refuses to spend more than a dollar to go out and have fun for the day, and I am out every single weekend doing all the things I love to do ( LOL). We use that darn TI for anything and everything we ever could possibly imagine as our SUV family boat.
It will take me another year to complete, but when done with twin Honda 2.3 engines and the new main wing sail (still in design), I fully expect to for me and my wife to be able to go out on our TI and powersail an average of 15 mph topping out around 30 mph in low winds (3x windspeed with the foils), for 3 hours burning two dollars worth of fuel. (Currently we average around 7mph top out at 20mph (only in stronger winds, but we don't like to go out in winds over 10-12 mph anymore), and fuel cost for 3 hrs is about a buck)
The coolest part is the very next day we can go kayak the Santa Fe river ( http://santaferiver.com/) all with the exact same boat, that costs me nothing to store in my garage. Besides the cost of the TI itself and the motors, I have about $500 bucks invested in the boat to date (not including the $300 bucks for the trailer), 90% of what I have I made 3-4 yrs ago, and have just been using it all every weekend ever since (most of the equipment is pretty ratty looking these days (LOL)). It's just a hobby to me and something to do, I like to tinker....

Bob



Never really thought of it that way but it makes since.
Great way to explain it!!!


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:21 pm 
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Dunn. I live in Mobile. Bought a TI two weeks ago at Fairhope Boat Co. I will sail mostly at Dauphin Island, but we should work up a trip if you get it! Maiden voyage is this weekend. Can't wait.


John


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:45 pm 
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BamaQ wrote:
Dunn. I live in Mobile. Bought a TI two weeks ago at Fairhope Boat Co. I will sail mostly at Dauphin Island, but we should work up a trip if you get it! Maiden voyage is this weekend. Can't wait.


John


Congrats on the new boat!! We are supposed to be going to look at it this weekend so hopefully its like he says it is. What did you buy the boat for? Fun or Fishing?


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 5:52 pm 
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Bob,

The Vin of the boat is HCCP0783i011

What can you tell me about this boat? Do you think it would have the anodized parts vs painted? Good year for the mirage drives? Double welded mast base? Etc? I just don't want to buy a unit that will have the paint start chipping off soon and the mirage drives give nothing but problems. You seem to be the Hobie genius so I figured you would be a good place to start.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:13 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Here's the key:

I.D.…MODEL…SERIAL #…..MONTH BUILT….YEAR BUILT….MODEL YEAR
CCM…...A………1234………..…...A…..…………..3……………….03

So a september 2010 built, 2011 model made in the US.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:05 am 
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av8erdunn:
I'm no guru, I just happen to have owned all the different model years of TI's, and am cursed with a photographic memory, that's all. Remembering everything you have ever said and done is no picnic I assure you. If you need to know the memory map of a TRS 80, I can recite it to you (LOL).
Actually Hobie has in their FAQ section a complete explanation of their Hull numbers ( viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1155)
Your born on date (like the beer) was September 2010, and was one of the first off the line of the 2011 model year.
That's the date that the hull was molded. all the other parts on the boat (AMA's, AKA bars, mast, sail, seats, etc) would have been made within a 6 to 8 month period prior to that date as I'm sure Hobie works using modern inventory control from their suppliers buying in lots with monthly release. Basically they order 3000 sets of (for example) AKA bars delivered 300 per month for a period of time (most companies these days try to exhaust their inventory monthly using JIT systems, because storage of un-sold inventory is extremely expensive.

Lets break down the TI models into three groups for simplicity, since most of their changes have been running changes that bridge model years, actually if you search this forum history, someone tried to document all the changes a while back and posted all the history (I haven't found or looked for it)

I'm just going by memory here, but here it goes.

Model 1:
april 2010 to mid 2011 ( +/- 4 months for components) ( I believe the TI was released to the market in March 2010)
Was the initial release design from the first mold, with all the original components The AKA knuckles from the first set of die cast dies that were designed too loose, and depended on only rivets to hold the aka bars on (the knuckles were basically a really bad design fraught with failure problems, but are easily repaired (but somebody has to take them apart, clean them up, and glue the bars back in properly (this takes time), all the fixes are posted on the forum). These gen 1 bars were all painted (non anodized).
The first 6 months of production included the crappy badly welded AKA mast holder cross bar, in later models the welding process was greatly improved and should not have a problem except in extreme use. If you see grey lines around the weld on the front cross you need to replace that cross bar, in my opinion if you don't see the grey lines, I wouldn't bother unless you plan to add something crazy like a huge spinnaker.
All model one's came with the mirage drive without the guide pins (nothing whatsoever wrong with these mirage units, no need to upgrade)
All model ones came from the factory with a 1/4-20 machined stud at the bottom of the mast holder that was very prone to breakage (I recommend anyone with a model one upgrade to the new stud (available on line for like $5 bucks), and can be installed easily yourself.
All model ones came from the factory with the twist and stow rudder system. Upgraded rudder systems were sent to all owners with self install instructions, you can spot these easily by opening the rearmost hatch and looking for the tied rudder lines with the rudder lines crossing over the opening. This is not a show stopper at all, the retrofitted units are every bit as good as the factory installed.
All model one's came with 1/4 inch diameter bungies holding the AMA's onto the AKA bars (these basically sucked), I recommend anyone with them self install Tom Kirkmans double redundant bungy fix (posted on the forum, Tom and a few others on this forum are very sharp in my opinion, very smart and practical). I'm sure most if not all have been repaired or upgraded by now. (not a show stopper, easily fixed).
All model ones came from the factory with a piece of tubing super glued on top of the hatch opening, this wins the award for being the cheesiest design ever created by Hobie, the guy that came up with it should have been tarred and feathered. These things leaked like a siv, and fell off all the time. Later models came with an improved seal (available on line), and hopefully by now everyone has self upgraded to the newer type seals.
Most early model ones came with a silver sail bag made of tarp material (totally sucked), the black nylon ones are much better.
I don't think model ones had the Hobie emblem embedded in the bow just forward of the hatch, and all the Hobie emblems on the AMA's mounted in the center fell of shortly after purchase (they used sucky glue).
All the seats had just clean bore holes in the hull with friction fit fittings, not the best of designs, but not a show stopper either.
Another total boner move by the tarred and feathered guy on the 'model ones' was to decide to not use marine grade epoxy to glue the furling drums onto the carbon masts, most if not all furling drums were knocked loose and slipped, and had to be re-glued on most of the early models, again not a show stopper, easily repaired and re-glued.
The earliest models didn't have the little silver plate to protect the hull from the sail control lines mounted near the back of the boat, I guess tar and feather guy figured we didn't need them.

Model 1.5:
( mid 2011 to very early 2012)
These still had the hulls molded from mold #1 you can spot them by looking at the sockets for the seat fittings, and the guide slots for the mirage drive insertion were still not incorporated (not a big deal).
During this time most of the above problems (not hull related) were fixed
mid model changes
bungys were increased to 3/8 dia I think very late during this cycle (a running change).
a new die cast mold for the knuckles was made with better fits against the tubes (another running change).
The weld was greatly improved on the AKA front cross bar (still not double welded, but way better and more reliable welding), not worth replacing unless grey lines develop along the ends and edges of the weld. (running change)
The plastic keepers inside the AKA bars were improved and failed less often. (running change), all registered V1 owners got new clips in the mail.
The grey flotation foam blocks started shipping inside the hulls during this time. (I believe a model year change)
Along with the new AKA knuckles Hobie moved to anodized AKA bars (smart move).
During this period I'm guessing tar and feather guy decided to move the furling cleat closer to the mast without consulting with the original designer, which caused the front AKA brace to flop back and forth (the famous clunk noise). Once they discovered their boner, they moved the furling cleat back to it's original position (problem solved).
Also during this time someone in manufacturing decided the holes in the little rectangular block (3/4" x 1" x 4") holding the mast down needed to be bigger to make it easier to assemble, bad idea, as this added to the famous clunk problem. Once realized they switched back to the original design. If you have the clunk sound it's probably good to replace that block, and if the furler cleat is not in the outmost mounting screws, it would be good to put it back. Regardless of which versions of these parts are on the boat, it's a good idea to keep an eye on and re-check (and locktite) any of the screws in the mast assembly often.
The little stud at the bottom of the mast was replaced with a rolled stainless version, this eliminated most of the stud breakage problems. (again making sure everything stay tight is most important).
A new rudder pin (better and stronger material) came out (all backwards compatible).
All boats from the factory had factory installed rudder systems from the new design (problem completely solved)
There was a time early during this period they were installing bolts in the rudder gudgeon that were too short, all registered owners recieved new longer stronger gudgeon bolts in the mail. (problem solved)
Someone in manufacturing ( I assume tar and feather guy (LOL)) during this time decided that it was just too hard to slip the two mast halves together so they made the joint between the mast halves a loose slip fit (nother boner idea), this caused everyone's mast to twist when furling and unfurling (twisting the sail on the mast). Tom Kirkmans solution was to just wrap tape around the mast at the joint (brilliant and simple solution), problem solved.
Another minor fix during this time was in the sail, near the bottom, it appears the rivets and gluing of the strap buckle at the base of the sail was improved over V1 sails (that buckle ripped off on my first V1 sail)
The gluing of the furling drum was greatly improved (problem solved)
I think I remember also during this time, better improved (two shot molded) tiller handles came out with an optional ball you could add to the handles to make it easier to steer. (this might have been a late V1 running change)
Better hatch seals were supplied during this time with new boats, still not a complete re-design of the hatch system yet, but way better than the super glued tubing thing.
I think the IML graphics molded onto the side of the hull might have changed during this time also with a prettier design (don't remember for sure, (so many boats (LOL))).

Pretty much anything that broke or was replaced on V1 boats would have been replaced with V1.5 components under warranty, so I doubt you will find any V1 boats out there with all original parts. I'm sure any remaining V1 AKA knuckles would have been repaired or upgraded by now by the owners.
If I found a really good price on a V1 boat I wouldn't be too concerned, as I know every problem can be fixed and they can be brought up to V1.5 pretty easily. This effects price, as a V1 is not as valuable as a V1.5, especially if nothing at all has been upgraded.

Model II:
This was a brand new mold for the hull, it's very easy to spot because it has the guide slots for the mirage drive.
V2 has the tongue and groove seat locks (little grey or black inserts in the hull under each seat).
V2 hulls also have the black re-enforced scupper hole inserts in the front scupper tubes.
New mirage drives with the guide pins added to the design (basically a little stronger re-design of the mirage drives), however there was nothing wrong with the old design.
The front hatch was redesigned, and is much better than any of the previous designs.
A Hobie emblem was added in front of the forward hatch, and the good news is they went to a better adhesive, and all the emblems no longer fall out after the first month of ownership.
The hull design itself is slightly different, the bow area appears to be a stronger more robust design, and about 1 inch shorter from the mast to the tip of the bow than the previous mold.
I suspect but can't prove that the seating areas were sculpted slightly differently and a little dryer (at least in my opinion), I doubt if any of this stuff is visually detectable.
All add on components are V1.5 (no V1 parts can be found on any 2012 models that I know of)
I'm pretty sure all 2012 model year TI's came from the factory with the double welded front AKA cross bar (problem solved once and for all)
Most of the hulls came from the factory with 3 brass inserts installed in the stern (all 1/4-20 if I recall) but the majority of the gudgeons only had to screws (a very confusing time), I think later versions even came with a larger screw at the bottom (all running changes), all un-announced. To be honest I never have had any problems with any of them, so I'm not concerned which one I have. My 2012 was purchased in July 2012, and I have the three 1/4-20 brass inserts in the hull, and the two hole gudgeon, never had any problems.

Models 2013 and forward
Everything is basically model two components through out, the design is very mature and complete, with no running issues (most every problem was rung out prior to 2012 model year)
I have heard rumblings that there maybe some problems with a later re-design of the mirage drives, I have no first hand knowledge of this because all I have is 2012 stuff and have no issues or problems with anything I have.

I'm only working from memory on all this history so I'm sure there are plenty of things I missed, pretty much every problem, fix, and solution can be found in the forum history (a treasure trove of information (though I've never used it, LOL)

Conclusions:
To be honest I had no major issues or problems with either my 2010 or 2011 TI's that were show stoppers in my mind. Anytime I did have a problem Hobie always replaced everything with the most current components under warranty. My AKA V1 knuckles failed, I took them into Hobie and they were replaced with v1.5 knuckles, never had another problem. My V1 front AKA cross bar failed and was replaced with a V1.5 cross bar (not double welded) under warranty, never had another problem. When my V1 hull tore around the front scupper hole pulling the boat out of the water, Hobie supplied me with a new hull. Those are the only problems I ever had.

Hope this helps you
Bob

To the best of my knowledge the AMA's have not changed from day 1.

I have owned 7 Hobie kayaks over the years, and was always worried un-necessarily that I would be screwed if my hull ever failed so I always tried to only own boats under warranty, and sell them and buy new once the warranty expired. In my opinion these things are so reliable now, I'm not as concerned about my warranty running out next July as I used to be, I feel these things are extremely well designed and made and don't expect any breakdowns or problems.


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