Hobie vs Propel

[Cowpokey]

Thanks for the input all. I know it's not a race, just curious.

Two cycles to one revolution...wow, that Propel is running a tall gear.

I'll probably get turbo fins at some point...maybe sooner than later. Of course that would potentially be money that could be saved toward the Cowkid II kayak fund.

Edit add: How hard is it to troll slow with turbo fins? I find myself going faster than I want with the standard fins. Depending on what we're trolling I try to keep it at 1 or 1.5 knots.

[Cowpokey]

I think some racing would be fun in the various kinds of kayaks with beer at the finish line.

This is a great idea. Maybe we can set it up at a M&G.

[Yak Fish]

You guys shouldn't focus on top end speed because like a few of you mentioned, it can only be sustained for a short period of time. I think it's more important to focus on the cruising pace. I can go 3-3.5 MPH for pretty much hours. I've seen lots of guys in paddle kayaks do that for shorter periods but they have no lack of speed. Paddle kayaks when setup correctly with an experienced paddler can really cruise along....I am not one of them.

A word of caution about sprinting in your Hobie....don't do it. I have done it and stripped the teeth from the drive gears. I'm willing to bet that the Propel doesn't have this issue but I've heard that the propeller starts to cavitate after certain speeds. I don't know if that's true or not. I'd love to see one of them on the water side by side with the Hobie. It may simply come down to user preference

[Mark]

Alan,

That's good advice about the Mirage Drive. The forces we exert with our legs when sprinting in combination with the resistance of the water must place significant stress on the drive mechanisms and even on the hull where the drive locks into place. I'm simply not fit enough to operate that way for extended periods. So maybe that's an advantage (perhaps the only one) my age provides over youth.


But I think it's great that Native and Hobie have devised a way for us to cruise comfortably at a good pace for touring or trolling.

If wanted to get to fishing spots faster, I'd get a boat.

[J.A. Veil]

Sprinting is fun for competition, but has little use in the kayak fishing world. (Rushing to shelter with an impending storm is one exception). Alan notes correctly that the foot-propulsion devices are not designed for excessive pushing, particularly when the forces are applied off of a straight line. Unless you are a trained athlete, the chances are you change you pedaling motion when at high speed. You are no longer pushing the pedals efficiently, and are exerting more force at a few degrees off of straight ahead. Those extra offline force vectors can lead to damage of otherwise high-quality mechanical devices.

Comparing two different drive systems is not a completely fair situation unless you can control most of the other variables:

- weight of pedaler, kayak, and gear
- age and physical condition of paddler
- shape of hull (e.g., a Revo has a significantly different profile than a PA14)
- experience of the paddler with the specific type of propulsion system (e.g., an experienced Hobie pedaler may have some learning curve issues when pedaling a Native for the first few times, and vice versa).

[tufnik]

I do have the need to sprint on occasion. I've done it many times on my Outback (with sailing rudder and turbos), with no problems (yet). Of course, I'm only 150 lbs and don't have the leg power like some of you guys. At my weight I can pretty much glide at a good pace. So, the stresses on my drive are not all that high; my Outback is completing it's third year. I did have an idler cable break from the flexing over a year ago.

[PigPen]

You guys shouldn't focus on top end speed because like a few of you mentioned, it can only be sustained for a short period of time. I think it's more important to focus on the cruising pace. I can go 3-3.5 MPH for pretty much hours. I've seen lots of guys in paddle kayaks do that for shorter periods but they have no lack of speed. Paddle kayaks when setup correctly with an experienced paddler can really cruise along....I am not one of them.

A word of caution about sprinting in your Hobie....don't do it. I have done it and stripped the teeth from the drive gears. I'm willing to bet that the Propel doesn't have this issue but I've heard that the propeller starts to cavitate after certain speeds. I don't know if that's true or not. I'd love to see one of them on the water side by side with the Hobie. It may simply come down to user preference

U can see videos for maintaining the propel drive cartridge and it is very durable looking gear unit as long as its not water logged. I found fighting the tide current and wind to be one of the few reasons to press the unit for as long as possible. The product manager was describing the cavitation was due to the water flow changing at speed due to the hull shape of the mariner. He said the problem was addressed in the slayer hull design. We'll have to talk to Eric about that, I think the slayer hull should be sharper for cutting through waves.