Hobie Evolve - Worth it?

[FRED driver]

shady-

I like the idea of having the evolve on the rudder to prevent damage from running shallow, but I dont like having to give up the sailing rudder. I love having the big rudder authority back there in big water when it gets windy. Do you notice degraded rudder performance when the evolve is off and just pedaling with your feet?

In a perfect world I like being able to keep the sailing rudder as it is and putting the evolve in the mirage hole for running to and from fishing sites and putting it away to pedal once fishing (I almost never troll). However then I run into the big issue of where to put that hugely awkward mirage drive, haha. And of course the added risk of running it onto something in shallow water.

[Shady]

Yea, the evolve sucks as a rudder when not under power. I've been trying to come up with a solution for that but havent yet. HokieDJ made up some kind of a plastic piece that fits over the shaft of the motor to make it a better rudder. I've been trying to come up with a way to cut my old rudder and somehow attach it to the evolve, but not sure how.

Yea, neither the evolve or mirage drive fit in the front hatch....

[Shady]

Don ........ do you have the 2 or the 3. I have the 3 and the batteries seem to last pretty well as long as I'm not running at the top speed. At trolling speed it lasts me all day ....... at least my day that is about 6 hrs or so. But I have 2 batteries and I've never used the second. The 3 has 40% more power. That is another advantage of the rear mount ........ you can use the Mirage drive with out switching .......

Ryan has the 2 Evolve rear mount I think ......... Ryan ..... how is your battery life.

I've thought about getting another battery because there have been times that i have ran out of juice, but most of the time I have enough battery power to fish as long as I want and then I wouldnt get any exercise at all... If Im going to be covering bigger distances I make sure to peddle as much as I can on the outbound trip to save juice for the inbound trip.

Also, when trolling, I usually just peddle as much as i can.

[FRED driver]

Ryan,

Those could be deal-breakers for me unfortunately. I love the mirage drive when fishing because it's totally hands-free. sucks that the evolve doesn't fit in the front hatch. I expected the drive wouldn't. I'm not sure how the Torqeedo 403 setup interferes with the rudder (does it replace the rudder?). For me, if I dont have steering authority, that's more important than having a prop. I've done 10+ mile days without it so I'd have to be totally happy with the capabilities to drop 2K on it =)

Yea, the evolve sucks as a rudder when not under power. I've been trying to come up with a solution for that but havent yet. HokieDJ made up some kind of a plastic piece that fits over the shaft of the motor to make it a better rudder. I've been trying to come up with a way to cut my old rudder and somehow attach it to the evolve, but not sure how.

Yea, neither the evolve or mirage drive fit in the front hatch....

[FRED driver]

By the way thanks for helping out on the replies!

-Ryan

[Memory Maker]

Fred ......... I'm sure you could mount the 403 using the ball mount without interfering with the rudder. They do it with all of the other Kayaks on the market with rudders and then you have the best of both worlds for less cost. You could have your rudder free, use the Torqeedo and the mirage drive ........ I have an extra mount that we could dry fit if you want to try ..... you might want to check out some of the Videos with Chad Hoover using it or the Torqeedo website too.

I just thought you'd want it on your rudder ....... never thought about it otherwise.

If it works then you can show me some great fishing spots in Delaware ....... always wanted to fish there.

[DOGFISH]

Don ........ do you have the 2 or the 3. I have the 3 and the batteries seem to last pretty well as long as I'm not running at the top speed. At trolling speed it lasts me all day ....... at least my day that is about 6 hrs or so. But I have 2 batteries and I've never used the second. The 3 has 40% more power. That is another advantage of the rear mount ........ you can use the Mirage drive with out switching .......

Ryan has the 2 Evolve rear mount I think ......... Ryan ..... how is your battery life.

I have three batteries of the newer version. I do run full throttle to get out to the prime fishing waters. It is only rare that I catch fish until I get out near the #6 marker in the river. If you launch near deep water then the lower throttle will get you a longer run time. I normally do not get into the third battery. However, on longer days fishing I do use the third battery for the last of the day and/or to return. Trolling is my game. In the river, the area is so large and lacking any real structure that casting or drifting would use up so much time. Trolling narrows the area down very fast. It is kind of funny, when I owned a boat, I used to hate to troll, even though I got very good at it. Kayak trolling is so quiet and near the water that its great fun.

[FRED driver]

Probably my last question on this whole deal. For those that have the Torqeedo 403 (or 402) and not the Evolve, how do you launch with it? Is there a way to raise and lower the rudder independently of the Torqeedo? The setup looks great when launched from a dock or when the yak is up on stilts where you can hand-place everything down, but I wonder about the logistics on the water from a beach or boat ramp.

Ryan

[M_Duong60]

I saw a video on youtube and it is raised and lowered with deck lines so as far as I know it is raise able

[kayak456]

/.6k

I have three batteries. I do run full throttle to get out to the prime fishing waters. It is only rare that I catch fish until I get out near the #6 marker in the river. If you launch near deep water then the lower throttle will get you a longer run time. I normally do not get into the third battery. However, on longer days fishing I do use the third battery for the last of the day and/or to return. Trolling is my game. In the river, the area is so large and lacking any real structure that casting or drifting would use up so much time. Trolling narrows the area down very fast. It is kind of funny, when I owned a boat, I used to hate to troll, even though I got very good at it. Kayak trolling is so quiet and near the water that its great fun.

Don, you know fish are in the shallows, just kidding. But in september and october I porved that fish are in the shallows with all those topwater fish. This year in the spring and summer I want to take you on my boat

[FRED driver]

haha I wish the fish were shallow, would make life a lot easier.

[DOGFISH]

I have caught a few in the shallows. However, most of the time I find them just off the shallows at drop offs. I mostly go for the higher percentage areas and then go for a search. I once found a group of fish just off the beach at Hillsmere. I had just kept my shallow lure in the water on the way back in to the beach. I caught 5 nice fish in that area before they moved off. I normally would have tried to find and follow them, but it was getting dark.

[russ498]

I will take a few photographs when I get the chance. There are a few hardware store items that you need to buy extra. I bought everything in stainless steel. You need a few extra screws, and some spring clamps. I used stainless steel leader material with cramped fasteners for the steering lines and the lift line rather than the cord that they supplied. It moves through the guides much better, is strong and does not stretch. I tend to overbuild everything. I used some high density Poly Board as backing material. I got the poly one Amazon for about $10.

[russ498]

Taking the evolve off of the outback twist and stow mount is not quick and easy, it's attached with six screws that should be lock tited. I just leave mine on there. Hauling it on top of my vehicle with motor attached is not a problem, but I haul it upright using a thule glide and set rack. Hauling the kayak upside down with thhe motor attached might be a little difficult. With the kayak upright, the motor flips up and lays on top of the kayak the same as the rudder would, but with the kayak upside down, the weight of the motor would probably make it hang down. I just use the rudder bungee to secure the motor to the kayak when it is flipped up, maybe you could come up with something a little stronger that would keep the motor from hanging down.

I do not know if it is possible with your set up, but I disconnect mine at the juncture where the horizontal bar meets the vertical bar. I leave the horizontal bar attached to the kayak and remove the entire motor assembly in one piece. There are only two screws that are easily accessible doing it that way. I use spring-loaded clips (stainless steel) where the lift line, reverse line and steering lines attach. All I need is one Allen wrench to remove the entire thing. It takes me less than two minutes.

[russ498]

Probably my last question on this whole deal. For those that have the Torqeedo 403 (or 402) and not the Evolve, how do you launch with it? Is there a way to raise and lower the rudder independently of the Torqeedo? The setup looks great when launched from a dock or when the yak is up on stilts where you can hand-place everything down, but I wonder about the logistics on the water from a beach or boat ramp.

Ryan

You can raise and lower the motor unit from the seated position. Just leave it up until you need it. I am not sure about the other models, but my Pro Angler has a separate rudder cord so I can raise and lower it from the seated position as well. I just leave everything up and push off. I do not drop the Mirage Drive in until I am in deeper water.