Should I get a 14 Turbo or an Adventure Island?

Where does the Wave fit in the hierarchy of things?

As a H16 sailor and the proud owner of an AI this is more a question of what do you want to do.

the H14 turbo or even a wave is going to be a much better sailboat if you want to go sailing.

The AI is an adventure machine. Great platform for fishing, cruising the river, ect. a Kayak with a sail, not so much a sailboat.

I love them both, I just have different expectations of the experience when launching them..

I say get one of each.

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www.thehobiewayoflife.com

That's just about perfect to solo a 14T. At 165 you should be able to right it okay. You might have a hard time finding one in decent shape. I think they stopped making them in the early 90s. Also there are fewer factory turbos and a lot of conversions.

It's definitely not a speed demon but A Wave suits my similar desire to get on the water instantly, sail relaxed with my wife and to also occasionally go fast solo on a windy day. It also gets me home when the breeze is almost negligible in the evenings.

There is definitely less emphasis on speed in this design. Although, you can actually go pretty fast with enough wind (you need a good bit more to get to fun speeds.) You can also feel more comfortable in bigger winds that would keep all but the most wily 16 owners on the beach. Even in big winds when you can truly have fun with it, it still feels a bit heavy/sluggish compared to the crazy acceleration if you have been on a glass cat. Still, I enjoy passing the braver wooden dinghys in my bay, even when they probably have more sail footage then me with thier jibs out.

If you are like us and relaxing is the primary goal (at least when the wife comes along) then it's the good compromise. I find myself keeping an eye out for an elusive deal on a great 16 but i won't be getting tid of the Wave even if I find it. It's just too perfect a boat when we want that quick taxi ride over to the beach or for getting a quick sail in after work before the wind dies.

Can either the 14 or the Wave be launched from a concrete boat ramp, or do you need to beach launch them to keep from damaging the fiberglass?

Listening to your reply's sounds like you want more encouragement. Try to find a local fleet or sailing club, anyone there will be happy to either take you out on their boats or talk your arms off. Or a local hobie dealer, they also sell or have leads on used boats too. Like I said before there is really no wrong answer, just think about how you want to use a boat, then get the most boat you can afford. And be sure to then use it.

Well, you're not going to want to drag either of them across concrete, especially the 14. But beach wheels can solve that problem.

The Wave is more abrasion resistant than a 14. Polyethylene vs polyester gel coat.

True, but at least with the 14 you can rebuild the bottoms when they wear down. With the wave (or any other poly boat) once the bottom is gone, it's gone.

If I were going to "beach launch" from a concrete ramp, I'd get a 10 x 10 piece of outdoor carpet to lay down on the ramp and sit the boat on that.

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I solo my H16. I am ~180 and experienced, but if you play it safe, you can learn how to handle the boat relatively quickly. I have sailed Waves at the beach and enjoy them. Their advantage is simplicity and possibly more comfort, and would be faster than an AI. Certainly a good starter boat.

You can launch your boat from a trailer from any ramp, but you would need a piece of sandy of grassy beach near by. This is to hoist your sail and complete rigging. You also don't want to block the ramp for other users for longer than just lunching your boat. Motor boaters would appreciate that.

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H17

Have you looked into the tandem island, if you have a trailer it's probably the fastest boat to rig and get out on the water, just slide off the trailer drop the lightweight carbon mast in and hook up just one line for the sail then your off (5-10 minute launch and retrieval). You can solo with it easily, or carry passengers, with tramps you can easily carry three adults. It's no speed demon like the h16 but with enough wind (over 10mph) it actually does ok. Since the sail is furl able it's pretty good in winds up and over 25mph if you furl the sail in, but I'm not sure I would go out in those kind of winds on purpose. It's near impossible to capsize. On light days or if the wind dies you can always use the mirage pedal drives to propel the boat (very efficient and you can go many miles with very light pedal effort), in other words you don't have to be a world class athlete to pedal the boat many miles if needed when there is little to no wind. Also storage can be a big problem, where do you plan to store it we just store our TI in the garage on the trailer, an h16 or a wave would not fit in our garage and storage in Florida can be a couple hundred bucks a month (or more) pretty much everywhere, and newly all subdivisions don't allow boat storage in your yard or driveway (for good reason), I'm just sayin you need to plan around storage, that may sway you decision on what to get (if anything). In resort areas like here I would guess 9 out of 10 h16 and wave owners belong to sailing clubs that allow you to store your cat on site with the mast up (that's a major factor), yes it's big bucks to belong to a sailing club but well worth it especially if you ever want to race and sail with/against others. If that's what you really want to do don't get a TI.
Also if you just want to go exploring rivers and such just leave the AMA's and sail at home ant use it as a very nice tandem kayak ( it is by far Hobies fastest and best kayak (as just a kayak), (more because of it's length and hull design than anything else)).
I personally prefer the TI over the AI because it can be easily used solo, bu you also have the option to take passengers ( more versatile). With our tramps we have had up to four adults out in nice flat water off of key west to go out snorkeling many times, yes of course the boat was overloaded, but we stay within a mile or so of shore find a nice spot then anchor and just snorkel off the boat for the afternoon, we do that all the time actually.
If your looking for a very fast sail boat that screams, and that's all you want to do is go out and zig zag around in front of the beach once in a while and have no desire to do anything else, don't get the TI, you will be disappointed. If that's what you like go find a used h16, the wave will also work well, it's easier to rig and they are very durable and easy to operate, I suspect that's why it probably the number one beach rental cat out there (you can rent them at Smathers beach in key west and most resorts have them for rent (sometimes free depending on the resort, I believe the hilton on key largo has a couple for guest use along with a few kayaks that I think are free). There are also a couple resorts here in sarasota that have several waves and mirage kayaks free for their guests use (your not paying ramada inn rates at those resorts though lol).
I think the main attraction of the TI is it's like an SUV, you can use for pretty much anything you can imagine including fishing (I've never seen anyone fishing from a wave or a sunfish). It also depends greatly where you live, when we lived in Illinois/ Wisconsin it was a few hours drive to get to any big water so I probably would not have got a TI (or an h16, or a wave) if I still lived up there, but no we live in Florida we live right near the water and are out every weekend.
Part of the reason I didn't talk about the h14 much is they haven't been made for quite a while and it might be difficult to find a good one that doesn't need a lot of work, I'm just sayin if you do find a used one for sale take along someone who knows these boats to inspect it, I would hate to see you find a deal on an old one then find out (the hard way) it can't be saved.
Hope this helps you some
Bob

I can only comment on the H-16 since I don't know much about the other boats. I bought my H-16 new in '85 and still have it. Contrary to what others have said here, it is not difficult to rig nor does it take a long time. I can raise the mast and ready the boat to launch in 20 minutes or less by myself. It takes another 10 or 15 minutes on the beach to raise the sails. I can carry a total of four adults though 2 is ideal. I solo most of the time on lakes but wouldn't sail alone on the ocean. Sailing through the surf to get out is a lot of fun. We were sailing in the ocean and got near a group of dolphin that apparently were feeding so I slacked off the sails and we watched for a while. The H-16 is exciting when the wind is up and moves well when it is only a light breeze. If you only will sail alone, the 16 may not be right for you with limited experience. If you can find people who sail Hobies where you plan to sail, you can get a lot of help and information from them. I think I would look for a crew before settling on something other than a 16.

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Howard

This is all very good feedback. Sometimes the only way a person can know what they want is to get something and give it a try. It is impossible to really know how much you will like something you haven't actually done. I don't know of a way to try out a Hobie Cat, Wave, AI. or TI. The only way I know is to try to imaging what life would be like and buy whichever one I think I would get the most enjoyment out of.

Am I just looking for encouragement? Well, maybe a little.

I am also trying to get my head around beach launching. I have launched from boat ramps before, but never from a beach. That would actually be pretty liberating. Just pick a clear spot on the beach and take off. Upon returning just aim for the beach. I don't know how difficult it would be to get the boat from the trailer to the beach, and from the beach back onto the trailer. I guess that would be my next question. If I knew people here who sailed Hobie Cats I could just go out with them and have all of my questions answered.

Thanks again to all who have contributed to this conversation.

Just out of curiosity, is there anyone in the Corpus Christi area that has one of these boats that I could go out with?