Hobie Cat Forums

Recently, I was 5 miles off shore with my wife fishing when suddenly the fwd left AkA detached from the the fwd crossbar. Fortunately, the winds and seas were calm and I was able to reinsert the AKA back into the cross bar. We aborted the trip and when I got home I played with the AKAs and determined that it only took a short, sharp tug on the fwd, left AKA to have it pop out. By coincidence, a few days later I received a new fwd crossbar from Hobie, due to a weld crack on the mast receiver. By looking at the old and new cross bar and playing with different possibilities, I determined the failure was due to the AKA retaining clip on the fwd crossbar. I believe these clips wear out and need replacing. I my case, my old clips had lost about half there outward spring ability and was not fully engaging the AKA knuckle. Below is a picture of the clip:



I have emailed Brandon at Hobie to identify a part number and order new ones, but he has not yet got back to me. I recommend everyone check this item for potential failures.

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Steve

How much usage has your Island done? (not just the model year, as a near new one sailed nearly daily might wear out stuff quicker than a "now and then" older one.)

I take the boat out 2-3 times per month, but when I do take it out, it is in the ocean 5-6 miles offshore. The boat is amost 2 years old.


Brandon got back to me and the part number is 79520601. 

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Steve

For them to lose their tension, I assume you remove the akas every time when you store your Island?

Actually, I store my boat on a trailer and almost never remove the AKAs from the crossbar.

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Steve

this is a bit concerning, hobie need to make a manual for things we need to check on the boat before going out. I would hate to be 10 ks of shore and this happen in bad weather.

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Thank you, Steve, for personally demonstrating the issue to me a couple of weeks ago. It was discomforting to witness your akas detach with so little outward pressure.

On my TI too, the crossbar-AKA retaining clips have begun to weaken. A small outward jerk, and the akas detach from the crossbars. Not cool.

When not sailing, I store my TI on its trailer in my garage. It has very limited exposure to the outside elements.

Before I order new ones, I wish to know from Hobie... What is the life span we should expect from these clips? Have there been any improvement to them over time?

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Marc K
2010 Hobie Tandem Island
Boynton Beach, FL

That is very worrying. I am fitting safety lines immediately.