Why Does Hobie Classify the PA as a boat instead of a Kayak

Tom;
I did not notice any difficulties created by allowing a craft to be propelled by a small motor. There was not even a mention of anyone being upset by the inclusion. I thought that the wording was quite specific and not conducive to any discussion/arguement whatsoever. Regards.....

Understood. My comment was simply that with such wording, I could have entered a Jon boat with a 2.5 HP motor and been entirely within those rules.

Which would have been just fine with the organizers and the attendees (a pretty laid-back group more interested in enjoying angling cameraderie and fun than rules and restrictions). Regards.....

Then this was not a "Kayak" fishing tournament but a fishing tournament ........ here on the East Coast there are several big Kayak Tournaments .........

The Chesapeake Bay Anglers Kayak Tournament was put on by several guys that I fish with. We had several intense discussions on all of this. They decided to allow PA's but the discussion would not have been necessary if Hobie hadn't classified it as a small boat in the first place for some dumb marketing scheme.

The PA is known as a kayak ..... it's thought of as a Kayak ..... it's gained it's reputation as a Kayak ........ not as a small boat. It's time Hobie corrects this ........ they aren't selling to the bass boat crowd ....... they are selling to the Kayak crowd as the Rolls Royce of fishing Kayaks. The PA's reputation as the ultimate fishing Kayak should be highlighted and marketed as such.

To me it was disturbing that I had to justify the that the most expensive fishing product in Hobie Kayak line was acutally a kayak because of Hobie's own words ......... because of a marketing scheme .....

As far as engines ........... they made a seperate classification for the motorized yaks in the tournament ........Today, most engines don't power a PA enough to gain a speed advantage or a distance advantage. However, the new technologies will change that. The Torqeedo is a great example of the ones on the market ...... they make the Evolve for Hobie and their own products. They have a KAyak engine that has great pickup and torque and weighs only 14 lbs ......... if they made the engine larger and the batteries bigger they would provide a GREAT advantage to the Yak fishing ........... speed/range/longevity and the ultimate convenience ...... but at a price. These things would sell to the people that want the ultimate in yak fishin .......... the thing I realize is that no matter what I spend..... it's still cheaper than my gas boat and a bunch more fun ..... so why not get the best. I think others will start thinking the same way

It's hard to come up with a simple designation for "kayak." Just because the manufacturer calls it a kayak doesn't necessarily make it so - if the event organizer has a different definition. At least one kayak manufacturer won a lawsuit because their "kayak" didn't actually turn out to be a "kayak" by any recognized legal standard.

For that reason, when the organizer of the tournaments put on around here by the NCKFA (North Carolina Kayak Fishing Association) asked me for an opinion on how to keep the events limited to small kayak type craft, I suggested they just put in a notation that only human powered craft were allowed. If you can't paddle, pedal, or row it, it's not allowed.

This has worked pretty well because at some point a kayak (boat or whatever) gets too large to be effectively human powered. Even a guy in a 14ft jonboat with oars would be at a distinct disadvantage against most kayak type craft. So they don't bother.

No doubt this issue will come up more and more in the future as these type tournaments gain in popularity.