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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 2:46 pm 
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Awesome video.... how could I not just "DO IT!"... and make this a favorite!

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 2:52 pm 
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I do have a question Yakass.

With all of the high wind sailing and heavy gear loads you had, you stated that in addition to other improvements over the original AI... steering is improved? I have been getting some grief from Chekika about weather helm in another forum topic... what is your finding?

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:09 pm 
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Yakass for some reason I can't see the video in the thread. I'd love to watch it.

I did end up finding it on another thread.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 6:35 pm 
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mmiller wrote:
I do have a question Yakass.

With all of the high wind sailing and heavy gear loads you had, you stated that in addition to other improvements over the original AI... steering is improved? I have been getting some grief from Chekika about weather helm in another forum topic... what is your finding?


Matt, with all due respect to him, I don't agree with Chekika about the weather helm topic. Carl and I both felt that the daggerboard improved how responsive the steering is. Neither Carl or I experienced weather helm at all during that week, and we did have some stiff winds, and we sailed them with full expedition loads and without. I've done a lot of testing off shore down south to and no issues there either.

Mind you, we always sail to suit the conditions and if we have to furl the sail a little for optimal performance, we will. I'm sure its quite possible for the rudder to be over-powered in strong enough winds, but we're inclined to furl the sail a little if conditions dictate. We figure that's partly what its for :-)

My take on it is that the new AI steers more responsively, though can be a little more flighty (depending on weight distribution in the boat) if the bow is poking its nose up a little. Thats a different matter entirely and I actually enjoyed that about sailing it - made the experience a little more active. We did find that varying weight distribution of the expedition gear in the boats dictated performance a lot. Whereas we use to pack fairly stern heavy (to keep the bow from submerging) there's no need to do it on the new model, and an even distribution from bow to stern worked best (as it should).

What I do agree with Chekika about is that it can be tricky to uncleat the main sheet in stiff winds. I think this is partly due to the extra distance from seat to xbar. I did round up in the wind at one point when my sheet got stuck in the cleat when I was hit by a big gust with full sheet out, and this happened to Carl (in surf) to. We found a really simple and cheap solution for that at SLH - we just moved the forward block upwards and forward (6" forward, 2" higher) of its default position and this reduced the angle from the block to cleat, making it a heck of a lot easier to operate.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 7:37 pm 
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Great video Josh. Editing, narration, camera work, green screen, all spot on. The HD can be a bit hit and miss some times but with this vid it worked well. :wink:

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 8:31 pm 
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Thanks Slaughter. Most of the footage in the original video looks pretty sharp in HD, but youtube compression degrades it a lot. I can shoot at 4k on one of my cams, which would help counter that, but it comes at a frame rate penalty, and I prefer to shoot in the highest frame rate I can (while still in HD).

As soon as action cams will let me shoot at 120fps at 4K, I'll be in heaven (that will let me do lots of cool editing tricks) and youtube clips will be pretty sharp by comparison.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:28 pm 
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Vimeo quality is superior to YouTube. Do you reckon it may be due to compression differences ?

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 10:55 pm 
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Yep, vimeo is better than youtube and yeah, I think they run better compression, though their file sizes end up larger. I find with both that the end result of HD will be determined by the quality of the clip before being uploaded. Essentially the higher the bitrate the better the fidelity of the footage, and youtube only compresses so far (this is partly why movie trailers, for example, look very HD even on youtube). Therefore I try only use cameras that have higher bitrates. ie: GoPro / Sony vs Garmin, and other cheaper options. I'm especially happy with the new Sony. Thats a bit of a game changer really, but I doubt I'll really get a chance to demonstrate what I mean by that until my next trip to Fraser.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 11:34 pm 
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Diver_fcd wrote:
Awesome video! Have you clocked how fast the AI is? What are the average and top speeds you experienced on your trip?


The top speed I clocked was 22.5kph, but we went faster on the final day but my GPS battery died, so couldn't record. I'd guess we hit 24, maybe 25kph at some points. Average speed is hard to tell because conditions varied consistently. However, on the last day we covered 56km in 5 hours, 30 mins (and we did that against strong tides, and catching a few good fish along the way). so that would give you an idea.

It is faster in most circumstances, and especially the circumstances where Islands are most fun to use. I've seen claims that suggest the old one is faster on a run. Err... no... not in strong winds its not. The previous AI bow and amas bury far easier, and this means slow-downs. The new one hardly suffers from that at all.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:37 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:51 am
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Location: Hervey Bay Qld Australia ( formally UK)
I picked my AI up today, shes certainly feels bigger and faster/sleeker going on looks alone. I love all the improvements especially the retractable dagger board and longer outriggers.. I really think Hobie have done a great job .

I instantly missed the handles :o , but a few minutes lost in
loading will be much better than a water spout :D I'll add handles at a later date. I have one question can we use the bar that holds the seat in place as means to lift etc?

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:44 am 
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Location: Fairfax, CA USA
Can you post a pic of your mod to the block? That is driving me crazy as well....


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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:59 am 
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Roller, I believe Matt mentioned in the "handle debate" thread that we could use that bar to carry the boat.

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 9:46 am 
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Yakass,
Are you two having to cleat the rudder downline super tight (relative to the old AIs) in order to keep the rudder under control?
thanks


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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:02 pm 
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Coachstevo, sure, but I'll have to wait till I get to work in a few hours. I have a photo on my work station there.

Narwhal, not really, but then again I have long been in the habit of cleating the rudder down very tightly anyway. Could well be that higher tension provides better performance with the new model (larger sail and all) but I found that a taught down-line was crucial for the previous model as well.

Roller, I have used that seat x-bar to tilt the yak on its side to plug in the cart, but not sure I'd try and use it to lift the boat off the ground. I find its just as easy to tilt the boat on its side by grabbing the end of the rear xbar. But yeah, you could easily add some webbing rubber grip handles. I don't see a need but I can see why some would

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 Post subject: Re: AI 2015 video review
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 4:09 pm 
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As requested:
Image

Thats where we re-positioned the block in order to make de-cleating the sheet easier. Look at the screws on the hull just a few inches to the left - thats the default position. With a much less acute angle on the sheet it is easier to lift out of the cleat with a fully powered sail, but seemingly equally secure when actually cleated.

Just remove the block from there and reposition as shown above. Be wary, that there is a block on the inside and it is spring-loaded (by the rudder down line), so you need to remove the outer block one screw at a time to prevent it from being sucked inside the hull.

Note that we went overkill and used a bullet cheek block, when we could (and probably should) have just reused the default micro cheek block. So really all you need to perform this little modification is a couple of stainless screws/washers/nuts, and a few drops of silicon

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