Although it will be some time before 2011 models start appearing on Australian shores, Hobie are set to announce the new seasons kayak line up. The very first confirmed information about what next year holds in store comes in the form of a new online Hobie kayak 2011 catalogue that will very soon take shape in print form.
There are a number of notable additions & alterations, one of which that is probably going to make a lot of people very happy, inadvertently upsetting some others simultaneously. Lets get that out of the way first, followed by a related disclaimer I'd like to share on behalf of all Hobie kayak dealers. At last... Hobie have finally made the Adventure Island available in (what appears to be) dune colour as a complete kit, in both the AI and TI models.
Mark my words - this will very quickly become the most popular colour of the 3 (in Australia at least). Its a colour dealers have been asked about almost constantly for the past 12 months or so and many dealers will certainly be thankful for having it available, as will countless buyers no doubt.
Here comes the disclaimer, and I send this out to each and every person who has asked me if Hobie was planning to release a dune coloured AI, to which I have always responded 'apparently not' and typically adding 'but they definitely should.' I have always based the 'apparently not' response on answers to that very same question asked of Hobie directly, by me in person and others in online forums. The answer has always been something along the lines of 'there are no plans to make the AI available in dune at this time'. So to those of you who might feel mislead by this, I apologize. I suspected it was coming (which is why I asked) but I was never certain.
I suppose technically, it's not dune. They call it Azul... but going by the photo in the online catalogue, I'd say that's simply because of the inclusion of blue trims on the sail (which really give it a lot of pizazz). I'm excited by the 2011 AI, not just because of this new colour, but also because of the new aka/xbar lock-in system currently featured on the Tandem Island. I'm really looking forward to seeing the new AI up close and personal. 2011 might be the year I upgrade my AI... to another AI 