Hobie Cat Forums

Surfing an A.I. (matcoburn, not me!) - the nose-cone proves its worth!

http://youtu.be/VqdQL90sDVo

(Can't figure out the YouTube posting format, so the url will have to do!)

Did you make the nose cone? if so can you give us some pointers!

Cc

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May the odds be ever in your favor..

I am more interested on how he did the mast camera mount. I have tried a few times. Too unsteady...

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Paul
DogsLife
2011 Adventure Island (Little Dog)
2010 Tandem Island (Big Dog: "We keep a leg up on the competition")
2001 Wilderness Systems Woodsman Kayak 14.5 (Blue Dog)

http://dogslifeadventures.blogspot.com/

I have been trying to track down a nose-cone for my TI for several years.
It appears that nose-cones are an Australia-only product! I have never found any manufacturer-importer that carries a TI nose-cone in the US.
Hobie doesn't seem to want to carry them (warranty-problem perhaps?).
The video shows the typical spray deflection...without the hassle of strapping fabric spray shields on the bow, etc.
I would think with the number of Adventure Islands in the US, there would be enough of a market to justify importing them.

I guess there is not enough entrepreneurial spirit left in the US for a plastics firm to design and build units. With 3D printers becoming so common...you would think someone would whip out a plastics mold for one. A friend and I are thinking about buying a 3D printer to construct low-run items. I was told that making a plastic injection mold was about 99% of the cost to make an item.

You'd be right about that. The whole thing about injection molding is that you have to balance the expected number of unit sales against the initial tooling cost. Even if the tooling was very expensive, if you break it down over hundreds of thousand of sales you end up with pennies per item involved. However, if you only end up selling a few hundred of an item, each one could cost you hundreds of dollars.

In my experience, most of the spray comes from the leeward front aka, not from the bow, so I don't know if a nose-cone would completely obviate the need for sprayshields.

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Not mine, unfortunately. Mat Coburn in the owner of the A.I. in the video. He managed to find that nose cone in a local (Melbourne) kayak shop about 4 years ago. He modified it slightly to fit.

He does a lot of open-water, expedition-style trip and reckons it makes a huge difference to the A.I. I know I want one!

Mat, if you're on this forum, perhaps you could chip-in, as you're the man!

Cheers,

Mike.

I totally agree with your point Chris, the spray skirts are a godsend and really not there to prevent nose dives. A wave deflector or a new bow profile is what's needed for that.

In this case, surfing, the deflector is the godsend. I would love to have both, and could have used them today.

Btw, KBobs skirts are painless to install and deploy.

So 2 thumbs up for Mat Coburn and KBob. And 1 for Mingle. Nice video find!

Mike.....if i stumble over another.....its yours.....

Maybe Tom in the future Hobie will pop a wave deflector at the front of a new model similar to the adventure island and place a bit more camber in the Hull and a higher seat position like the Revo. Ahhhh just another avenue to drop another 4K down!

Hey Matt and NoHuHu - this may be closer than you think. I was doing a tour of the Hobie Factory today ( a benefit of living in Southern California) and One little snippet I managed to squeeze out of the Hobie team was that they are currently testing a wave deflector for the AI and TI that will be able to be retro-fitted when released - THAT is great news! When asked about timing all they would say is "its not ready yet"

Barry

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Life is the Journey - not the Destination

That's good news Barry...

I was just about to plonk down $100 on a Spirit wave deflector...

Is suspect the Hobie version will cost more $$$, but at least it'll be purpose-made.

Hopefully the release date will be sooner rather than later!

Cheers,

Mike.

I'll take mine in manly RED, thanks!

But it will clash with your PINK hull!

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http://KayakingBob.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2007, 2009 & 2010 Hobie AIs and a 2010 TI

Yes, butt I plan to use it as a battering ram!