Hobie Mirage Tandem Island Details

If they were, it will be a first for the marine industry! Go Hobie!

Matt,
Will accessories such as Trailer Saddles be available at about the same time
the Tandem will ready for delivery?
I am assuming that the trailer saddles for my AI will not fit the new hull.

Do your designers know the optimum distance required between the saddles?
I am planning on repositioning the forward saddle cross-brace on my present AI
trailer to fit the Tandem.

Are the other forum members correct, that my AI Tramps will fit the new Tandem?

MATT – I’m finalizing plans for Tandem Island purchase. Please help me discover a couple of things - On the Information released for the TI the following was w/o detail.
Options:
>> Aluminum Trailer
You said: In the 2007 Forums:
“We are also working on a trailer system to hold a boat assembled. Fiberglass molded bunks to hold the hull and amas folded in. You will be able to carry one or two side-by-side.
These items will be announced when ready for dealers.”

I would like to purchase a trailer on which the TI could effectively be stored; is this a realistic hope?

Exciting boat! Many interesting details, already mentioned by others. From the pictures of the prototypes I feared that the dagger was permanently (and unreachable) below the boat. It is great that it can be removed (important for weed removal for instance).
Further I thought hobie would try to reuse the mast, aka's and rudder (for that could be commercially beneficial), with as a consequence a relatively small sail and poorer performance. I think it's a good thing that they went for a longer mast and aka's etc, so that the sail can be this big.

My guess is that with two adults the speeds will be close to the AI, but soloing, this thing should be considerably quicker. Only disadvantage obviously is its weight, must be close to 50 kg hull only. Not fun on land, but no problem at all on the water. My oasis (with weights for soloing) weights something like that.

Keep up the good work hobie. What's next? Something like a Weta with a mirage drive added? I wouldn't mind...

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skua

I have been giving a great deal of thought to how I am going to transport and launch the new Adventure tandem.

Right now I assemble the AI on a Hobie cart, complete with seat, amas/akas and sail installed and roll it down to the water's edge to launch. That has worked very well on the Hobie cart with the heavy duty wheels. I have added a little padding to the bar plus the tennis balls (thanks Roadrunner) to minimize stress on the hull.

Now the assembled Island weighs 115lbs. The assembled tandem weight of 190lbs has raised a concern. I have no doubt that a scupper cart can support the weight, what I worry about is all the weight on the carts crossbar damaging and distorting the hull. More so if there is bumpy terrain.

Does Hobie have a comment about this?

I suggested a while back that creating a molded saddle that one could add to the cart to distribute the weight would be a big help. Much like the Hobie saddles used to trailer and Island while assembled - a small molded saddle that attached to the scupper cart would be worth having.

Me too, no probs rolling an assembled AI down the boat ramp, easier than pulling it across the beach.

But the TAI is too heavy for me to load on top of a Van alone and maybe too heavy for me to pull up the ramp, my usual partner is too small to be much help so I need a trailer I guess but how does one use it?

Do you pull the TAI off the Trailer and fit the Cart in the parking lot for a haul down the ramp or reverse the trailer down to the water and slide the TAI straight in?

(Too bad the Foresail is not manifesting however I can see the extra design problems this would cause.)

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Fair Skies, Max.

Hmm - lost the text of my message due to timing out whilst I had dinner
Not to worry - it's worth just seeing this photo comparison again to warrant a post
Thanks Bob

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Mickey
2016 AI Hibiscus
purchased NEW Nov 2021 - My 5th
Adventure Island Sailing since 2008

My dealer also says that they will not have a Tandem available to look at...only if I am
lucky enough to see a hull which has come in for a customer.

Has anyone seen a production hull?

Do the seats have 'inflatable' cushions along with the inflatable 'lumbar' seat backs?
My AI has one and I would not go back to the standard seat cushion!

How close does the 'centerboard' get to the forward fin on the rear Mirage drive?
I have a profile photo of the Tandem and the board seems to be really close to
the rear drive fins when it is swung up toward the hull. I wonder how much turbulence
the rear fins will experience from such a large, long board. I am going to appreciate the much larger board on the Tandem...I have the 'new, molded' daggerboard on my AI, and there was a lot of improvement on heading into the wind compared to the 'older fibreglas' board.

Will it be possible to fit the TAI's mast and sail to the AI? If you could, what would this do to the AI's performance?

Too tall and too long in the foot to fit an AI.

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

Hmmm. Nothing a hacksaw and a bit of DIY wont sort out then?

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Either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!

I want an AI tall rig too! The other multihulls I sail are a Multi-23, Stiletto, and F-27, so I find the AI quite underpowered.

Will Hobie exhibit (with tandem AI) at the New York boat show in two weeks or at the New England Boat Show in Boston later this winter?

The real question is - will the tandem mast fit in the AI's mast receiver? "Too tall" is a matter of opinion (and willihgness to risk a capsize). "Too long" means you would have to keep the sail partially furled, though you would still have a lot more sail area than with the standard AI sail. If it's possible, there's bound to be some brave individual with both a standard and a tandem AI who wil try it .

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Would a Hobie Bravo mast and sail work on an AI?

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CaptRon
"Anything's gonna happen,
it's gonna happen out there"