Hobie Adventure-First Impressions

[forefrazier]

Current boat: Malibu X-Factor
In my sights: Hobie Adventure

Short Version: Wanted to try out a Hobie so started at the top and took out an Adventure for a 2 hour tour. No fishing this time just pedaling. Cuts like a knife, seems very fast and is definitely much more efficient than my current X-Factor. COOL!

Long Version: Since I am 6'5", 240 I was concerned about going to the "dark side" but was intrigued to try to say the least. Renting an Adventure and seeing how it handled was my first task. Right off the the bat I immediately noticed the difference in initial stability vs. the X. Felt real tippy like my core had to be centered the entire time. After purposely rocking it back and forth, I quickly gained confidence that it is just a bit squirrely in the initial lean angle and secondary stability is fine. I was not going to fall in the drink. Still would probably take a few outings to get used to. First impression when getting it up to speed was WOW! I am actually making a wake! Didn't have anyway to measure the speed but this thing glides through the water nicely. Took it through the bay and out the harbor exit to at least try some larger swell. (Pretty nice day out today though so not much chop to experience) When I did go through larger boat wakes, etc, it seems to slice through...not much water reaching me or my seat. The turning ability others have mentioned that is not too great did not seem to be an issue to me at all. While pedaling a quick flick of the rudder and it is on it's way around. Since I have been a paddler for a while and do not do much biking, my legs seem to not quite be where they need to be endurance wise to keep the Big A at it's top paces without frequent breaks. I am sure that would only improve with time and leg strength.

Seat was a little wet and I did notice that the rear scuppers had water almost up to the top of them. There was also a pool of water coming up from the Mirage drive hole. Don't know if that is normal or just a function of me being on the higher end of the size/weight limit.

All in all for only one demo, I am sure I could get used to the Hobie very quickly. I will probably take it out again for a full fishing day just to see how I feel with the lack of storage vs. better tracking and range and how it is to actual fish it. So far I give the Adventure a big thumbs up.

-Steve