New Hobie 2011 Adventure Island

 

I sold my Newport 16 sailboat so that I could buy a Hobie Adventure Island. Today I picked up my new boat from my local dealer. It is a 2011 model with the old twist & stow rudder.

I started assembling the boat as soon as I got home . There are many things that I really like on this AI compared to the TI that I have been sailing for the past 7 months.  Even though the hull is smaller the distance from the bow to the front aka is longer. The rear storage is also much longer. It was dark by the time I had the boat assembled.

I noticed that some of the plastic trimming was not as clean as I would expect. The rear storage scupper holes have some plastic overlap making it hard to fit the scupper plug. The rudder steering line holes were undercut and look like a source for water leaks.

 On my TI I had problems with my screw-in fittings. The TI plugs could not be fully screwed in because of the remaining tap shavings in the holes. Some of the AI holes have shavings, but not as bad as the TI.

But the thing that I noticed the most is that Hobie has changed how they tap the threads in the plastic cups. The threads are NOT FULLY FORMED !!! Most only have 2-3 partially cut threads. As a engineer I have concerns with that. I am not sure that if enough pull is applied the fitting will pull out.

I did not inspect the inside of the hull until I had the boat assembled. When I opened the center hatch something caught my eye.  Next to the centerboard trunk there is a imperfection that looks like it has been sanded down. I had to disassemble the boat so that I could inspect the bottom.

 You can not see it from this picture but there is a slight dimple on the outside just aft and inboard of the centerboard trunk.

Another thing that I noticed while inspecting the bottom is that the hull has a slight bump right where the mast support is. Are the support turnbuckles too tight???

The AI is a beautiful boat. I can not wait to get her on the water.

But it is these few small items that I need to verify if they are OK or if I need to do something about...