Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm Posts: 97 Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
Jbernier wrote:
On another note - I sailed the all new AI yesterday, wow, what a boat....it's like an dream to sail. Much better upwind performance (larger centerboard) with more sail area and larger amas the AI is my favorite Hobie Product. I'm going to have to get one!
The wait! The wait……..is killing me!!!!!!!!!!! AAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!
So from your quote Jacques, can we assume the boat is in production?
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:26 am Posts: 165 Location: Brisbane Australia
Love my Hobies, but this is getting rather annoying now. When a Hobie Representative announces to Rapid Media on the 7th August that we will see the new Adventure Island pretty soon. Then we are told that the release date will be 1st September. Fair enough I thought. Now we are told that they haven't even gone into production yet. Maybe you shouldn't have announced it, till it was ready to go into production.
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am Posts: 3062 Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Hogman: If anyone remembers the release of the original TI. It was announced early in the year 2010, but I couldn't get my hands on one until April 2010, the earliest ones had a few minor bugs and kinks that eventually got worked out. I think Hobie has got their act together much better now in my opinion, I have every reason to believe the new AI and the freshened TI will be really nice boats and relatively bug free. I also have a new found respect for their abilities given the massive changes thru their whole line of kayaks this year with the new seats, GL mirage drives, etc, all I can say is WOW. I also think that both the AI and the TI are now much more popular now than in 2010 (and rightfully so, they are that good), and the distribution is now global.
However fact of the matter is they are all built from single cavity roto molds with a likely cycle time of around 1-2 hrs, this means running 24/7 they will be able to produce at best 12 boats per day once the molds are completed ( this is all assuming they have not converted to induction molding yet (which is ten times faster)). If you want to see the actual molding in action watch this episode of Made in America, where they actually show the boats being made (very impressive) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ3cOi2NdW8
Of course Hobie doesn't publish their sales figures, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out these adventure boats must be popular (around here anyway). For example I was out in Sarasota bay last weekend and saw 4 other TI's out sailing in the bay on a Friday afternoon (not even a weekend). Of course this area might be a mecca for sailing so my perspective on things might not be realistic, and doesn't represent necessarily the whole market. Looking out into the bay just counting boats with my fingers and toes, tells me there must be a lot of TI's out there. On any given weekend when there is not a major sailing event going on I might see a few H16's out, a couple F18's, usually at least 1 Getaway, and 1-2 waves out there, I'll usually see 3-5 lasers and a few Sunfish, along with a dozen or so cruisers and day sail boats (like Oday's, etc), then you always see the kid sailers from the sailing schools out there, usually a few dozen following an instructor on his deckboat like duckings following their mother (I'm sure they are having a blast). I'll usually see one or two Windriders, and at least one Weta out in the bay when no events are running. Of course all bets are off when sailing events are going on (several times a year) where we might see 400-500 plus sail boats of all types out in the bay. We have been to several local Island club events where a dozen or so Islands showed up. Only Hobie knows how many boats they can produce and sell, but my suspicion is demand will outweigh production capacity for quite some time, given the popularity of this line of boats. I for one plan to just hang onto and continue using my existing 2012 TI (our 3rd TI) until the newer models are readily available, I suspect some of the guys who sold their older Adventure boats and are waiting for the new ones are kicking themselves now. My 2 cents Bob
Last edited by fusioneng on Wed Nov 12, 2014 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm Posts: 15038 Location: Oceanside, California
Hogman wrote:
When a Hobie Representative announces to Rapid Media on the 7th August that we will see the new Adventure Island pretty soon.
Maybe "see" is that the were showing the prototype at the OR show?
To be fair... I believe December has been the expected release date all along. This was decided early last summer due to the large number of changes and new models coming out. We just couldn't get it all done.
_________________ Matt Miller Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales Warranty and Technical Support Hobie Cat USA (Retired 11/7/2022)
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:26 am Posts: 165 Location: Brisbane Australia
Don't get me wrong. I think hobie make the best kayaks on the planet, and I know it will be worth the wait. With all the new changes, the boat will be a killer. As I have said before Hobie have really listened to AI owners, and every concern they have had has been addressed in the new model. When I preordered in August I was told a release date of September. Obviously I was feed the wrong info. I guess I am just having Island withdrawal symptoms.
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm Posts: 97 Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
I know it will be well worth the wait. I would prefer a longer wait with no "bugs" in the boat than the other way around. I sold my 2013 AI "Crazy Horse" 2 months ago as I wanted to get the best price before the market was flooded by second hand hulls.
Well I got a great price, and so I should have, the yak looked like it came straight out of the showroom.
So here I wait, but this is where I'm kinda lucky, I work at Wetspot WaterSports a Hobie retail outlet and can take a boat out anytime I like.
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:51 am Posts: 229 Location: Hervey Bay Qld Australia ( formally UK)
Come on guys lets stop beating about the bush! when can us Antipodeans expect to take delivery of our new AIs? My main concern is I was told by my local dealer they didn't have a clue to how many AIs they could get there hands on! so even though I paid a deposit in August I still might not get my kayak as its first come first served. I could end up waiting for the second shipment. I was told there are 10 or so orders in front of mine. I don't know but I think there will be a few disgruntled AI users about come whenever
Second thoughts and call all me cynical if you wish, but I along with many others was told we could expect our AIs in December, I got that from my authorised Hobie dealer I personally do not think they are that bad at communication within Hobie. I also saw the video on youtube, a release date of September was definitely mentioned.. Now could it be that the new 2015 model has a few issues that are proving difficult to fix? We all remember the rudder issue several years ago. I'm half tempted to cancel my order and wait until late next year when any issues have been found and dealt with properly tbh.
_________________ Every day is an Adventure Island day
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