17' Hobie Pro Angler

[J Barbosa]

Anyone else think a 17' kayak this big is ridiculous?

At what point do you buy a small aluminum boat or carolina skiff?

[jigfreak]

That thing is a tank. I get that you want to fish with your girifriend or wife. Why not just purchase 2 kayaks. Do you have any idea how much that weighs? It must be a beast to unload.

[robmedina]

that model will be dead in the water. What was Hobie thinking? Unless you are going to trailer this (and I mean like a boat ramp) this thing will be next to impossible to use.
What about if you get flipped over? yeah- someone screwed up with this one.

[J Barbosa]

I could see this kayak having potential for some markets like kayak/skiff rental places, freshwater boaters who can park it next to a dock. In saltwater I could see some of the very wealthy who have houses on the water having one just because its different...

Just a ridiculous price tag of $5k and weight of 230lbs (not that hobie has ever properly weighed one of their kayaks to begin with).

I rather spend the 5k towards an aluminum boat with an outboard.

[cowherder]

Five thousand for a kayak? You are right only the richie riches of the world will be able to afford one.

[robmedina]

I predict they discontinue this model.

[hookedonbass]

You could pedal that to Cuba and smuggle people out of there with it. way to big, unless like JB said you have your own private island and no dockage because of shallow water. Seems to be a very thinly sliced market.

[J Barbosa]

I predict they discontinue this model.

Highly unlikely that they will discontinue them IMO.

The injection rotary molds used to make these kayaks are very expensive but at $5k each kayak they probably don't have to sell to many to get their money back.

Also, Hobie does not do consignment on any of their kayaks. The dealers have to purchase their inventory out right and gets charged for shipping costs. This is one of the reason we see many sales towards the beginning of the season and obviously anything left over at the end of the season.

If they are not a hot seller its more likely that the dealers will just not buy as many of them.

As it is right now I believe there is less than 6-8 Hobie dealers in New Jersey total with 3-4 major dealers.

Everyone thought the PA 14 was going to be a failure with a cost at over 3G but the dealers have a hard time keeping them in stock.

[storminsteve]

230 lbs? Isn't that like 4 times heavier than most kayaks? Wonder how many guys you would need to lift it. Ot just put it on a boat trailer and slide it into the water lol.