Anyone have any experience with the white EPO2's?
I just bought a pair because according to my dealer the black EPO2's have been withdrawn from the market due to failures.
They look good. the build quality is very good. The foil shape matches the template and right out of the box, they are almost ready to sail. They are not Marstroms but they cost about 1/5 as much.
Same blade different color. Great for seeing weeds or kelp. The black EPO is coming back. The builder is replacing all the stock form the last batch.
Umm.. I just ordered a Black EPO 2 about 3 weeks ago...Do I need to send it back and Get the replacement??? Whats the deal?, they look So NICE.
Black looks neat but you will need to paint them white if you want to spot the weeds. <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />
Why not just limit your sailing to where the weeds are white?
Well, Thats What I do Now......:D.
We didn't sell any of the suspect blades in the US. This was discovered in Australia over the winter in rough and windy conditions. They cracked or broke just a couple blades. I wouldn't expect to see any failures here, but we are scrapping what we had to be sure. Your blades should be fine.
UPDATE on the White EPO's
Compared to the original EPO's
The white ones are heavier based on my old notes
The trailing edge on the white is a lot more nick resistant
Compared to the lexan rudders
The EPO's are not any faster
The EPO's have much better steering, better feel and
better response
The EPO's actually made it pay off to feather
up in the puffs. With the Lexan rudders, it was better to
work the main and only feather when I had to
White is definitely better for seeing weeds. My boat currently has one white and one black rudder (long story, and I'm working on it).
Anyway, at Madcatter, there were lots of weeds this weekend. They were pretty much invisible on the black rudder, but were very easy to see on the white rudder (even though it was extremely dirty/stained). Even with these old plastic rudders, the boat was pretty fast (led both races all the way to the gate, then the wind shut off and I made some strategic errors).
I have a set of white racing rudders from my last Hobie 16 (not sure of the exact age of these rudders, probably around 2006 or so, and barely used). I'm getting them redrilled for the Wave. Probably overkill, but I like these rudders (just can't let them hit anything solid, or they will chip pretty easily), and I can't see buying EPOs while I still have these available to use.
Mike
I saw a neat trick at HMWE where someone painted a White leading edge on their Black EPO's....I did just the inside leading edge, (you can't see the outside from the tramp anyway)...Painted about a 2 in. wide strip from the water line down about 18 in. or so....Looks like a de-icer on a plane wing Lol.
test