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Sail Expo Boat Show Coverage from St. Petersburg, FL By Frank Pineau |
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Being from Southern California, you would think you could find a boat show
every month with Hobie Cats on display. No so however, even though Hobie's
are made here. When the staff at OTW heard about the Saint Petersburg
"Sail Expo" show, we dispatched our crew (well, actually just me) to cover
the event. (Well actually, I was on a business trip in Tampa at the time).
In any event, Hobie was there, along with an entry from Prindle and one
from Nacra. On display from Key Sailing out of Pensacola Beach, Florida
was a nice Trifoiler, and from the "Tackle Shack" in Pinellas Park, Florida
was a Miracle 20, some Hobie fishing floater type things and
several Hobie Wave's. Boatworks of New York supplied a Magic 25 which was
shown by Rob Jerry of fleet 204. The show was at Vinoy Park, off Tampa Bay in Saint Pete. I got a chance to meet some of the Hobie staff, including Kristen Lawton from Hobie's Marketing division, and Matt |
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Miller, general nice guy, deck hand,
evangelist and hobie list fame aficionado.
Many people stopped to check out the Miracle 20, and showed interest in the Magic 25 Monohull. |
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Hobie had a couple of Wave's on land, and three Wave's in the water. This
is where most of the activity centered, as the reps from Hobie were giving
rides on the Waves, and allowed visitors to take the boats out in the bay
unassisted. As a H16 sailor, I couldn't imagine letting anyone on my boat unassisted unless I sailed with, observed, or knew they could sail a 16. The funny thing about the Waves, is that nearly anyone can sail it with very little assistance. Under the conditions I witnessed, you couldn't flip one over (very buoyant), easily steered and tacked, and just about impossible to get into irons. This boat is very responsive, as compared to my H16, and essentially effortless. I was somewhat skeptical of the wave at first, being a hard and fast H16 sailor. After taking the helm of a Wave for about 30 minutes, I can really see it's place in the market. |
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Everyone wanted to take it out, and all
three were almost always out on the water. While it's not a boat I would take out "double trappin'" for speed, this is a great "first time" teach my kid's how to sail boat. Hobie admits quite a bit of "We bought a Wave last year, and now we're looking for something bigger and faster" traffic in their stores. Not everyone starts out on a Miracle 20, or a Trifoiler. My impression: Great first boat, very safe, durable, top Hobie quality. Frank Pineau frp@pacificnet.net Co Editor, test pilot and field correspondent On the Wire Back to Features |