Catamaran vs Adventure Island Hobie comparison
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2019
- Whats the difference between an Island and a Cat? Which is better? Took out a 14' Hobie Cat and compared it with my Hobie AI. Raced upwind and downwind. Compared operating challenges and sailing performance in different situations. Full comparison review at the end of the video.
I've owned both. For pure fun I'd take the cat. The 14" cat is much lighter. I found the Island too heavy and difficult on the beach even with a trolley for one person to move unless taken apart. Rubber parts in the AI like pedal drive flippers broke down in a hot climate and had to be replaced.I'd go for the Hobie Wave cat which can be taken apart and weighs much less than the AI.
Must be light. AI only weight 60kg.
Great comparison review 👍👍👍
Thanks mate 👍🍺
"I wouldn't be taking the cat out in strong wind conditions..." WTF?! That's what HobieCATs are MADE for!!! Most fun fast sailing I've ever done was on my Hobie 16 in 30kt winds.
You've got more skill on them than me bro, I wouldnt
Wow you have had a lot of views on this. Amazing. I hope you are still able to get out adventuring
Thanks bro. Yeah I was flying a paraglider on the Yorke Peninsula yesterday. 👍🍺 Great to hear from you. Keep hunting.
Mikes comparison "The 14 can be rigged by one person. Ideally no crew whereas the 16 needs two people to rig and sail. Tacking on both boats can be difficult unlike the Island which you can pedal through a tack. Both the 14 and the 16 can be a handful in strong winds and it's difficult to depower the rig. No ability to foil main. Righting ropes are required as capsizing is not uncommon. Not really an Island issue. Both 14s and 16s are adrenaline rush boats when sailed hard. Pitch poling is always a real threat and when you are on trapeze it can be dangerous. Equipment wears out quickly on a Hobie cat. Hulls take a beating when beaching too. Overall they are great speedsters but no good for fishing. The Island is easy to store and rig whereas the cats need proper slips to launch. Overall as a family craft the Island is better and safer. Try paddling a cat when the wind dies. One benefit of the Island is that the whole family can rig it and sail it. This I found out as soon as I bought my Island. My 3 adult kids and partners nick it whenever they can. The cats were nowhere as popular."
As a life time Hobie sailor and dealer I would like to say the following. The H14 does not need the boom vang. When tacking simply roll tack it versus dragging both hulls equally through the turn. If you need the Island to push you through a turn then you need a lot more practice tacking the H14. In your video the sail is out to much before and as you turn, and the peoples weight was way to far aft. They basically stalled the boat, it was not the boats fault. And yes the H14 sail can not be furled but when you do it on the Island the performance is significantly reduces especially sailing into the wind. One does not sail the 14 straight down wind, you reach it deep while trying to fly the telltales, then its much faster down wind than the Island. The H14 and 16 can certainly be rigged solo, I have done it many times and I weigh only 155 lbs wet, so I am not a big guy. Yes they can be a handful in strong winds, thus the reason they are so much fun to sail. And no just because the cat hull lifts out of the water does not mean it is going to capsize or be thrown over. Again it comes down to experience. I have had my H14 and 16 out in 40 knot winds having a great time flying around. I seldom capsize my Hobie Cats. Not sure why when trapezing or not the cat would be dangerous. If you pitchpole you simply fly forward into the water. Equipment wears out quickly? I have seen 1970 and early 80's Hobie 14's and 16's still being sailed with original gear, other than running rigging/line. The hulls have a ton of fiberglass on the bottom, so they will last a long time unless you are dragging them over rocks. Just buy some beach wheels to solve this. A Hobie Island hull is far thinner material wise than the cats. Now I am not sure what you mean by proper slips to launch. get beach wheels and you can launch almost anywhere. Yes the Island is safer I guess, what ever that means. "Try paddling a cat?" Its easy kick up both rudders half way and start sculling, super easy, boat moves great this way. Or lock the rudder in place and paddle it as both hulls are like canoes, they slip through the water with little resistance. Whole family can rig either. My daughter regularly rigged the H14 by herself, however the H16 takes more strength to do, unless you have a winch stepping system on your trailer that makes it easy. As for popularity in my family we all love the Island but for speed the cat is always the favorite. Trapezing over the water is freaking awesome, my kids love it, you can not trapeze on an Island. However the Island is awesome for trips through narrow channels, rivers, etc. Reality is both boats are quite different. The cat I use for sailing in general and trapezing. I agree the Island is great for adventure trips, however every year our Hobie fleet of cats do long distance camping sail adventures. The Island is certainly better for inexperienced sailors and the cat you actually need some level of skill to sail. Your video shows this fact that the people on the 14 could not tack it properly and saying the cat is going to just be thrown over indicates inexperience. All these sailboats are freaking awesome, neither is better, they just have better uses.
I’m a female and I regularly rigged my 16 by myself. That included stepping the mast. The 16 is a very manageable boat that can even be righted by one light weight person if proper technique is exercised (I use a righting bag).
My 14 has a jib, so it’s WAY easier to tack- especially if you backwind the jib. I also added a jib furler, and the main can be reefed. Very manageable solo, and having a trapeze means it’s alot more comfortable than sitting on a tramp all day :)
The 14 and 16 are very easy to depower. Lot's of downhaul. Travel out and sheet in. Sail higher going upwind, or sail lower going downwind. If you are weather vaning back to windward when you take, you need to let the main out more when you tack! That is for force pulling you back up. If you are sailing a 16, pull the the jib in and get it flying before pulling in the main. The jib pulls the bows downwind.
Great info thank you.
Glad to be of help Rich 👍
As a life time Hobie sailor and dealer I would like to say the following. The H14 does not need the boom vang. When tacking simply roll tack it versus dragging both hulls equally through the turn. If you need the Island to push you through a turn then you need a lot more practice tacking the H14. In your video the sail is out to much before and as you turn, and the peoples weight was way to far aft. They basically stalled the boat, it was not the boats fault. And yes the H14 sail can not be furled but when you do it on the Island the performance is significantly reduces especially sailing into the wind. One does not sail the 14 straight down wind, you reach it deep while trying to fly the telltales, then its much faster down wind than the Island. The H14 and 16 can certainly be rigged solo, I have done it many times and I weigh only 155 lbs wet, so I am not a big guy. Yes they can be a handful in strong winds, thus the reason they are so much fun to sail. And no just because the cat hull lifts out of the water does not mean it is going to capsize or be thrown over. Again it comes down to experience. I have had my H14 and 16 out in 40 knot winds having a great time flying around. I seldom capsize my Hobie Cats. Not sure why when trapezing or not the cat would be dangerous. If you pitchpole you simply fly forward into the water. Equipment wears out quickly? I have seen 1970 and early 80's Hobie 14's and 16's still being sailed with original gear, other than running rigging/line. The hulls have a ton of fiberglass on the bottom, so they will last a long time unless you are dragging them over rocks. Just buy some beach wheels to solve this. A Hobie Island hull is far thinner material wise than the cats. Now I am not sure what you mean by proper slips to launch. get beach wheels and you can launch almost anywhere. Yes the Island is safer I guess, what ever that means. "Try paddling a cat?" Its easy kick up both rudders half way and start sculling, super easy, boat moves great this way. Or lock the rudder in place and paddle it as both hulls are like canoes, they slip through the water with little resistance. Whole family can rig either. My daughter regularly rigged the H14 by herself, however the H16 takes more strength to do, unless you have a winch stepping system on your trailer that makes it easy. As for popularity in my family we all love the Island but for speed the cat is always the favorite. Trapezing over the water is freaking awesome, my kids love it, you can not trapeze on an Island. However the Island is awesome for trips through narrow channels, rivers, etc. Reality is both boats are quite different. The cat I use for sailing in general and trapezing. I agree the Island is great for adventure trips, however every year our Hobie fleet of cats do long distance camping sail adventures. The Island is certainly better for inexperienced sailors and the cat you actually need some level of skill to sail. Your video shows this fact that the people on the 14 could not tack it properly and saying the cat is going to just be thrown over indicates inexperience. All these sailboats are freaking awesome, neither is better, they just have better uses.
Awesome, thanks for the info 👍
No one cares about this... We are talking sailing here if you had not noticed.
Awesome reply! I just got a Hobie 14 and I’m used to 16’s. Your advice on tacking is invaluable.
Very glad my comment was helpful.
I’ve owned a 14 & 16, and currently own a Tandem Island. Agree with nearly everything you say, but I do find the TI considerably safer in one regard. The TI is much more stable. When I was younger capsizing my cat meant I was having fun, but righting them took effort & I can’t imagine doing it solo now that I’m older. I sailed a Minnesota lake, about 15,000 acres so largeish by Mn lake standards but tiny by costal standards. When windy enough to sail at speed here there are 2’ to 3’ very choppy waves. Makes for a difficult time righting the boat. I don’t claim a fraction of the experience you seem to have, so I’m sure there were better techniques for righting. But the thought of having a heart attack trying to right the boat solo was one reason I chose a TI this time, and I haven’t regretted it. I do miss trapezing at speed, along with a lot of other crazy stuff I did in my younger days.
Hard to make a bad choice here.
I sailed Hobies a lot when I was a kid....to turn it you need to enter the gybe with good speed, if it won’t turn I always used the rudders side to side as propulsion to get it round.
Not the gybe, those just needed you to sit hanging off the back to stop the hulls digging in a strong wind gybe, but tacking needed good speed. Also, sometimes if I hit chop that slowed the boat I had to pull the sail across to make it back into the wind.
@@woodfinchcrafts7267 Sorry, late to the party here. Anyway, I had a Hobie 16 for several years, having had a sunfish where I learned to sail. Initially I had all kinds of problems jibing the Hobie. So i found a copy of a book named "Hobie Cat Sailing". In that book I found this gem "use only half rudder to jibe the boat". Next time out I tried that, and all of a sudden it just worked. When you use full rudder, it will stall the boat and you end up drifting backwards. Using only half rudder, you jibe in a big wide arc, rather than a tight turn. But you maintain your speed and complete the turn every time.
@@GCUnplugged What do you mean by "half rudder?" For me I just roll tack the boat and release the jib at the right time. If the boat starts to weather vane just let about a half to foot of line out of the mainsheet and that will do the trick. Raced and sailed both the H16 and 14 for years. Super fun boats to sail.
@@funtosail What I mean is that the rudders should not be pushed to the maximum turned position. Doing so tends to kill all your speed and stall the boat. The book I read said to only turn the rudders about half way so that the boat turns in a wide arc and maintains speed. That technique worked well for me.
@@GCUnplugged Yes that is true, but you can turn the rudders a bit sharper if you roll tack the boat. Basically as you sit to windward as are sailing along, then come into a tack you stay on the side your on, weighting down the hull so that the boat pivots on the depressed hull, while the other hull is lifting out of the water, once you are through the turn you move quickly to windward. Cuts the tack time down significantly, also reduces the boat weathervaning/stalling/going into irons. I surf sailed my H14 as a kid and when sailing in the surf one needs to tack quickly.
Cats without a jib are annoying to tack. Once you add a jib a lot of the wind vane effect is reduced, plus it's just faster in general.
Also, I always felt that the Hobie 14 has a bit less buoyancy than ideal. The 16 is better in this regard, giving it better handling in rough water. The 16 is definitely more of a handful though, and if you sail it solo you need to know what you're doing.
Great info thank you. I imagine the 14 would be a lot faster with a jib too, might not be a fair comparison with the Island
Single handed cats with daggerboards are easer to tack, because you have a pivot point, the trick is to sheet out as soon as the main catches, and bear off to gain your momentum back, then sheet in. If you find yourself weathervaning back into irons, you are either not sheeting out enough, or sheeting in and heading up too quickly.
I had a ⛵⛵⛵ Hobie Wave but had to give it up because it's a big task of taking mast down and transporting, regretted ever since, now I have a 💺💺💺 Tandem Island, still missed my Wave but love the Islands almost as much if not more. 😁😂😍
Thanks for sharing! Fun boats, if not as fast as the cat.
Unless it has broken off, you would not have lost dropped the main, when the rope came untied from the main halyward. There is a fitting on top of the mast which catches a swedge on the main halyard cable which would prevented the sail coming down, but catching the cable flying in the wind would have been a bitch.. :)
Bills rigging is a bit dodgy
@@Adventure_Bum The newer halyards are actually a little more dodgy, I did lose my main at a Hobie 16 Nationals. The Main halyard shackle is attached to a cable that is spliced into the halyard rope. Over the years the cable will corrode and pull out ( the halyard “lock” is pressure clamped to the rope part. So, down she will come. Fortunately the launching beach was downwind from the race corse, so we had a nice lessurely sail back on jib alone. I had bought spare for everything, so I was set. But we did lose out on a few races..
@@brenthendricks8182 lucky save!
Thank You
You're welcome Bud
Don't the peddle blares create a lot of drag and slows the canoe? Can you take the peddle mechanism off and use a paddle instead of the peddles?
It doesn't make a huge difference, but if I was sail racing I would take them out.
they also might act like a keel does on a sailboat. more stability in the water
@@Mikinct Keels need to be heavy/ballasted to provide stability. The pedal drive wouldn't make a noticeable difference to that.
It might do the other job of a keel though which is to prevent the boat from sliding sideways, allowing you to sail a more direct course against the wind.
Adventure island all the way!
Great boats!
I’ve never sailed a cat before so I could be wrong but come on it can’t be that hard to tack and there is some magical thing called hiking straps so you can balance the boat better.
Cats are easy to stall through a tack because they have very little momentum. Trapeze are the most fun way to balance a cat but need a lot of skill.
Why not a sailing/rowing dory?
A flat bottom boat with no keel, wouldn't it be horribly unstable under sail? The Hobie Islands are super stable with a daggerboard and outriggers.
The hobie 14 sails a lot better than than this video depicts.
Guess it depends on the skill of the sailor. We had about equal skill.
No it’s not, it’s a pig.
The Tandem island probably keeps up the cat
The problem with the TI is it's max "Hull speed". The cat's hull speed is higher, so in some conditions the TI would be faster but I think the Cat would be much faster in ideal conditions.
No way in hell a tandem island is keeping up with a 14 or 16. No way! Just search for “Hobie 14 Speed Test.”
I have a Hobie TI, it's a true beast.
I disagree on the over-pricing. Kayaks have gone up in prices quite a bit, and there are yaks out there that cost almost as much, but give you a lot less.
The TI and AI are essentially small sailboats, and in some states given the size and length the Hobie TI needs to be registered as such.
But at that price, you have a versatile rig that can literally travel anywhere, move on wind, pedal, paddle, even electric motor power, and will last you a lifetime if properly maintained.
Thanks for your opinion. I can buy a decent 2nd hand trailer sailer for the same money as a new TI. I absolutely love the Hobies but they are expensive (in Australia at least)
@@Adventure_Bum
Good point, but a Hobie TI can also be car-topped, depending on the vehicle, thus saving you money on trailer... It can also be launched from the beach, and it's easier to store and maintain.
Yes, they are expensive nonetheless, but when you add it all up, they're worth it.
Windrider trimarans are even more expensive 😁
Cheers mate 😎👍
I think he is being a bit unfair to the cat. If I peddle with the adventure island, then that's "cheating". That's not sailing. i can also cheat with a cat, and it is what I do all the time, by just bringing a $5 paddle with me on the cat to give a little extra momentum around. You can also hold the sail out and let the boat go backwards a little bit, steering it to lean in the right direction, and then you take off.
G'DAY James. only seen a cat paddled once, from the front. Looked really awkward. How do you do it?
The cat is superior in comfort, speed and stability
Cat is definitely faster but I reckon the tri is much more stable, nearly impossible to flip. The cats tramp is nice but an Island fitted with comfortable seats is super comfortable, especially for someone like me with a bad back. Tx for commenting 👍🍺
AI $5.5k...
Both are second hand boats