John Fereira wrote:
!Jones wrote in news:bc5qu1ph28tgephmeu5a9d77s5e923udr4@
4ax.com:

On 10 Feb 2006 14:05:00 -0800, in rec.boats.paddle
" wrote:

They do genereate a lot of power. Go here
http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/miragedrive.html and scroll down to
the videos at the bottom. Note that a drag race and cruising are
different, and a real race would probably give different results.

You still need a paddle for reverse and sideways.

Steve

Yeah, I've been through their site. We were going to rent one last
week; however, a case of pneumonia had other ideas. I have looked at
all of the product reviews and everyone just *loves* their Mirage
drive. "Why, it finds me parking places at the mall and makes my
downloads run faster!" they say... it's a bit like a religious
conversion.

Glowing recommendations are not unique to the Hobie Mirage. If you look at
the Paddling.net reviews section you'll find hundreds of different models
reviewed, primarily those that have purchased a particular model. They're
overwhelmingly positive reviews as most are probably not going to post
negatively about something they purchased.

I'd like to hear from someone who'd point out a few things they did
*not* like... I'm sure these exist.

I've never paddled one but I think of a few things I might be concerned
about.

As someone else mentioned, the mirage drive doesn't help one paddle sideways
or in reverse. For many, kayaking is much more than just going forward. It
seems to me that the primary benefit of the mirage drive is that it allows
one to get from point A to point B in a relatively straight line a little
quicker.

For those that like to do multiday expeditions it doesn't appear to provide
storage capacity though the Adventure model looks it has a small section in
the bow with a hatch cover. Is a Hobie mirage drive kayak something you
could see doing a week long trip in?

I'd be somewhat concerned about a reliance on a mechanical device to propel
the kayak. If something goes wrong with it is a paddler going to be able to
manoever the boat effectively with just a paddle if the've relied on the
mirage drive for forward propulsion rather than developing skills with a
paddle? The problem could be compounded by very windy and/or rough
conditions. As it also has a rudder, developement of steering skills using
only a paddle might not be as good as someone that only has been using a
paddle.

SOT kayaks are often very popular in warm water conditions but you don't see
too many of them in places where the water gets very cold. If you're not in
calm conditions you're likely going to get much wetter than in a closed
cockpit kayak.

Jones


I have pondered the possibility of using the Mirage drive in
combination with Hydofoils. You may have seen the short flix where the
kayak is being paddled and ends up lifting out of the water. Looks to
be in a straight line and not maneuverable, but right where the Mirage
would shine. High output, short duration, could be quite the kayak
hotrod! OvO