Hobie Cat Forums

Has anyone used some basic engineering calculus and physics to determine if the Sidekick outriggers (amas) increase the weight limit of the Hobie Mirage Sport Kayaks.

The reason for the question, is that due to damaged old shoulders/knees, the tight fishing in local rivers/streams and lakes, and storage issues of second kayak, I need a smaller kayak than our Oasis tandem.

My wife and I are like our Oasis more each trip. However, it really takes the two of us to get it on and off the trailer to the water and back. Even after fixing the rudder to turn tighter, there is no way it can turn in some of the areas I want to fish. We are impacted with Tides and downstream flows which make turning longer boats tricky. Also, big Stripers and a not too bright big Salmon can make the manuvering very tricky.

So I'm considering buying a Sport which can be hauled in the bed of my Ridgeline truck, taken off by me and stored in our carport shed when not in use. Then it can be removed from the shed by me and put in the back of the Ridgeline.

Our local waters are tight re turning/manuvering areas and often a 100-200 yards on the Trax to get to and from the truck to launch and retrival. The Sport will be a lot easier to get to and from versus the Outfitter or our Oasis.

I'm 5' 9" and a little over 200#'s, the weight is dropping as I am one year post knee op and able to walk up and down our hills.

Since I like to Fly Fish, I would like to be able to stand to cast in 50% of the situations. The Sidekick outriggers (amas) have made our Oasis very stable, and I plan to use them with the Sport.

The Outfitter is big/bulky for me and a little too large for many of the waters I want to fish. A friend bought an Outfitter for his "Wife", and they/she/he now want an Sport for this area.

I don't need to pack a lot as the trips are local and often tide and wind dependent (often a window of a few hours is the maximum safe fishing).

Lucking forward to the input of Sport users.

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2009 Oasis
2010 Freedom Hawk 12
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can probably answer this one. The answer is none. If you look at the specs for an Adventure Island, and an adventure, you'll notice that the weight limit on both boats is the same, 350 pounds.

Adding outriggers, or aka's and ama's should increase how much buoyancy you have, but there are usually other stresses at play.

There are many of us that use our boats outside of Hobie's recommended uses, (such as sailing in small craft advisories) but Hobie will not officially certify their boats for these uses.

It comes down to how comfortable you are with taking a boat outside of Hobie's recommended uses, especially if it comes to a warranty claim.

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augaug thanks.

I was thinking that a little of Newton's third law might apply with the amas.

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2009 Oasis
2010 Freedom Hawk 12
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

We used a Sport and Outback last year with the Sidekicks.

Sport videos can be seen here:


and here:


What we found is that the Sidekicks don't add any buoyancy when they are in their lowest position - they add stability. However, the stability they add is nothing compared to the Pro Angler, AI or TI. I've stood up on the Sport and the Outback with the Sidekicks in place and both of the smaller yaks were really shaky compared to the bigger yaks. The Sport and Outback didn't dump me, but were quite squirrelly underfoot.

The Sport is can be spun on a dime, especially with the large rudder and the ST fins - even more so than the Outback with the same rudder and Turbo fins - but the Sport stability pales compared to yaks the size of the Revo and up. Also, the Sport has less leg room and weight limits. Believe Hobie when they say the Sport only supports 225 pounds; I'm 220 and my weight was enough to put the rudder line holes under water most of the time, requiring frequent bailing of water that came in through the rudder line holes.

We both have back issues and went with a trailer for our Revo and TI this year. It does limit where we can put in and the bigger yaks aren't as maneuverable as the smaller ones, but we like them better than the smaller yaks.

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Mitch

2010 Tandem Island
2010 Revolution
Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore

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