Hobie Cat Forums

Top honors from me so far!! Light, simple, boats are fully assembled, fairly compact. I love it and will be revising my trailer to incorporate your mods. How wide is it overall and the pvc tubes really don't look long enough to store the mast & sail but surely it must. I can't visualize where you store the drives and seats??
Thanks for posting.
Mike & Kelli

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Sarasota, Fl
s/v BonaFide

Hi Mike and Kelly: Yes, the AI mast and sail fit in the longer 4 inch x 15 ft tubes, and the sport mast and sail fit in the smaller two tubes. You have to wrap them fairly tight but it not a problem at all, much simpler than putting them in the supplies bags. The AI seats say attached, but lay forward and their drive lay ontop of the seats and are secured using the drive bungie and the rear storage bungie. The sport seats and drive are stored in the rear storage area and are secured with rear storage bungie, Works like a charm, I just drove over 1000 miles with zero problems. The paddles and life jackets go in the AIs bow storage. I'm not sure of the width (If you like I can measure tonight) , but it must be at or less than 7 feet, it fit in my grarage with lot of room left over. Thanks, Ray J

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Ray J

I have recently sold my ute (pick-up) for a 4wd wagon and now need to buy a trailer to cater for my needs. One of the needs is to be able to carry the AI. I am planning to do this on the AI Cradles. I know these have to be spaced at 67" (I assume centre to centre) but I also require to know the distance from the front cradle to the bow of the AI and from the rear cradle to the stern so I can modify the trailer to position the AI in the best spot.

Also is there a height that would make the saddles difficult to load the assembled AI and would lead to having to disassemble before loading?

Thanks
Trevor

Hi Trevor: On my setup, there is about 64 inches from bow to the front cradle and about the same from the rear cradle to the stern. The overall width of the trailer is about 7 feet. As far as how high to place the cradles, just see how high you can easily lift the bow of the boat, however lower is better. Good Luck, Ray J

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Ray J

Hi Trevor,

I've got the AI cradles mounted to the crossbars of my Trailex SUT250-M2 aluminum trailer. Because I have a 72 inch aluminum toolbox from a fullsize pickup bed mounted between the bars, I have them positioned a little further apart than they ideally should be. Still, it works well enough. The crossbar heights are a little more than 3 ft above the ground, so the cradles are probably about 3 1/2 ft. Maybe not quite as convenient as would be the case at 1 - 2 ft, but I've never found it to be a problem. As Ray mentioned, I just lift one end onto the cradle, and then lift the other end. However, I lift the stern up first. I figure it's better to not have the rudder mechanism against the ground while tilting the hull at an angle. Not that the angle is steep enough that the rudder mechanism actually touches the ground when I'm lifting the bow, but I just feel better by not taking the chance. The short version is that even a 3 to 4 ft trailer height is going to be a lot easier to deal with than a cartop rack, for example. And you don't have to unrack it when you get home!

Happy Sailing,
- Jim L

Hmm - with the impending arrival of the TAI, this is a subject much on my mind - as no doubt it is for everyone who has placed an order
I have both a trailer and rooftop solution for the AI but will need to make some changes to accommodate the TAI.
There is lots of good ideas in this thread.
However I think the easiest way for me may be to modify my trailer to accommodate the TAI and rooftop the AI with my present setup.
All this will involve is removing the AI cradles from the trailer and replace them with hobie TAI cradles or similar - to transport upright; or alternatively, add two low level cross bars to support the hull inverted ala roof rack bars. I may have to extend my drawbar further to accommodate the extra length - haven't checked this yet

I will be interested to hear what others are planning.

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya

Hello. Last year I purchases a Trailex SUT-450-AID through a Hobie dealer to carry my two Hobie adventure islands. I like how light the trailer is and it looks great. I do have one issue with it. Sometimes I get some trailer sway with this trailer. This is especially bad when I put cargo in the Yakima sky box I attached to the center tower structure. Sometimes it is so bad it wags back and forth like a Labrador's tail if I drive over 45 MPH. I purchased the largest sky box that Yakima makes, but the weight of the two kayaks, the tower structure, the sky box, and all the cargo is still less than the 450 lbs maximum for the trailer. The tongue weight seems to be ok, but I will double check with a scale. I am towing with a Acura MDX so that should certainly be up to the task. I am very surprised to be having this issue as I have towed Hobie 16s and 20s around for years without any issue. I was wondering if anyone has had this issue or has any suggestions.

Here is a photo of my rig.

I've got the trailer wiggle a few times and it's always turned out to be not enough tongue weight.

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http://KayakingBob.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2007, 2009 & 2010 Hobie AIs and a 2010 TI

... agreed. There are devices like below to help control sway, but i'd HIGHLY suggest you try either try moving weight foward or adding weight near the tongue. For light trailers I like to have at least 15% on the ball/hitch.



Another thing to consider is the hitch height - a properly loaded rig has the side rails of the trailer perfectly horizontal with the correct % tongue weight and when the trailer is attached to the tow rig. Think of the trailer as a seesaw with the wheels as the fulcrum. If the nose is even just a bit higher than level it is taking away tongue weight.

Leveling the trailer is accomplished with a shank that either raises or lowers the ball to the proper height. They sell shanks with a multitued of drop/rises usually in 1" increments or you can get an adjustable one like this. This one (as most) can be flipped 180* if a rise is needed instead of a drop. A big carpenters level laid on the side rails of the trailer gives you a much better measurment of "level" than eyeballing it.



Also, because the lever on the tongue side is so large compared to behind the wheels, once the trailer is level, Adding a small amount of weight near the tongue can make a big difference. Lead diving wieghts can easily be bolted to the underside ...

... I once towed a wagon back from Chicago to NY on a rented Uhaul trailer. There was no way for me to move the wagon any more foward and the trailer started wagging at 47-50mph. We stopped at the next exit and purchased 4x40lb bags of rock salt and ratchet-strapped them as far foward on the tonge as possible. We were then able to safely travel at 60-65mph which over a 1,000 mile trip made a huge difference not just in time on the road but relaxation level while behind the wheel.

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Alan W.
'07 Hobie Adventure Island #1
'07 Hobie Adventure Island #2 Golden Papaya AI LadyJane
... both in Golden Papaya
'06? Hobie Outback SUV

Here is a photo of my rig. This is a repeat so I will get another photo to put here.

I think you have some restrictions on your flkr acct

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Alan W.
'07 Hobie Adventure Island #1
'07 Hobie Adventure Island #2 Golden Papaya AI LadyJane
... both in Golden Papaya
'06? Hobie Outback SUV