Hobie Cat Forums

Tom,
Hobie's attitude to warranty issues is legendary, so I wouldn't hesitate visiting your local dealer over this issue.

Kman7, that's a good thought - if it comes to that.

There has been no offer of a warranty replacement at this time. We still don't know if they're all this way or not. I am waiting to hear back from the dealer this coming week. Until then, I'd sure appreciate any comments from AI owners that can take a look at their boat and see if their crossbars are square to the hull or not. Thanks.

I took some more measurements this evening. Everything on the right hand side of my AI is behind everything on the left hand side. By the time you get back to the Ama cross brace pegs, the RH peg is 1/2 inch further back from the LH peg (the photo is square)



Given that my RH front cross brace mounting point is behind the LH brace mounting point by 5/16th inch, I figured that if I move the RH cross brace peg a total of about 3/4 inch forward, that should at least square the Amas to the hull. However, it's a tricky mounting point as it sits right on the slope leading down to the bungee peg. Or I could move the LH peg rearward by that same 3/4 inch which would achieve the same thing.

Just something I'm considering at this point.

Option B would probably help, but you'll need to judge fully assembled.

Tom, you could also cut the Aka braces to custom lengths, to dial in the correction you want on each side. That way you don't mess with the brass inserts and brace ball hardware. It's best to leave those in place.

I must be stupid, but if everything on the right side is aft of the left, all that this means is that the right ama will be a fraction closer to the hull (it is a parallelogram) Nohuhu's suggestion to simply change the length of the diagonal brace makes lots of sense.

(I hope you are not staying ashore over this minor issue)

Thanks. I should have said that moving the LH peg rearward (or the RH peg forward) would make the Amas parallel with each other. So too would the suggestion of cutting the Ama cross brace/s to custom lengths. I can't square them to the hull without a much more invasive operation.

I have stayed ashore thus far because my dealer is still working on a solution. I may end up returning it (it's pretty darn crooked, even by plastic boat standards) so it needs to stay in brand new condition until we figure out what to do.

In the meantime I'm just toying with some ideas should I decide to keep it. I wasn't able to get any photos from other AI owners so I still don't know if this is pretty much the norm for all these boats or not.

Tom - Unfortunately, ours is the same here. I roughly measured about 1/4" variance at the forward crossbar and about 1/2" at the aka brace balls. The rear crossbar is just about square with the boat.

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Brendan Castile

Okay, if this is as good as they get I'll figure mine is as good as the next one and give it a try. Thanks.

Tom, that is a shame that you are not enjoying the benefits of your purchase, even if the angles are a little out. I wouldn't imagine warranty issues would be affected at all just by trying the Island out on the water. At least you would then have fun on the water while working through the issue.

I try to hold out that maybe I'm being a little bit picky, then again, $4000 for a hull that is this far out of square doesn't leave me with a great taste in my mouth. But I have 4 Hobies and like them. I'll like this one too, it may just take a few trips to put the out of square stuff behind me (I hope I'll be too busy watching the sail and the water to even see the other stuff).

If they're all like this then that's the way they are. My trailer arrives tomorrow and I'll get it together and head for the water the first day the wind picks back up (was 10-12MPH today!). We'll have 100 degree temps through the weekend so I wouldn't mind getting wet. I tinker with about everything I get and who knows what I'll do with this boat. But I'll go sailing first and see how it does.

By the way, I purchased this boat from Austin Canoe and Kayak and it's only the most recent of many items I've purchased from them. They go out of their way to be helpful and rarely have they ever backordered anything on me, even the most seemingly mundane small parts. I highly recommend them if a person's local dealer doesn't stock what they need.

Tom,

If you want to replace the aka braces with different lengths I found that onlinemetals.com has a fairly close replacement.
What I bought:
2 pieces @ $16.40/piece Aluminum 6061-T6 Bare Drawn Tube 0.875" x 0.065" x 0.745".

Very close match to Hobie's

J

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2011 Golden Papaya TI with a 250 square foot spinnaker!
also a more manageable 100 square foot spinny...
&
the TI3 rear ama mod

Thanks. I may do that.

Have you seen the TI3 Youtube video? The TI3 has an extra x-cross bar and 'akas' at the rear, with wooden benches extended behind the tramps.
Looks like great control and balance with hiking stick on rear tiller handle.
There also appears to be rear connections from the new rear akas to the amas.
This would be a great DIY for the winter when my TI is usually stored.