Hobie Tandem Island V2 Kayak Review – Worth Investing?
Kayaks have overtaken canoes over the past years and they are still going strong. The prices of kayaks will differ depending on the length, brand, material, and features.
There are different manufacturers that make kayaks one of them being Hobie kayak. This is well-known brand that offers you with exemplary great kayaks.
One of their leading kayaks is the Hobie Mirage Tandem Island that drives with turbo fins. This uniquely designed kayak can carry 1-2 people and it holds a maximum weight capacity of 600 lbs. With Hobie Tandem Island kayak, it is easy to transport, maneuver as well as docking, thanks to the two retractable amas fold up. 
The Tandem Island is made up of a 2-piece carbon composite rig, which provides rigidity while even distributing weight for the perfect sailing experience. The kayak also benefits from 2 large cockpits, top notch sail-handling controls, and sufficient storage hatches, so that all sailors onboard can sail the blue waters and hunt for fish like never before.
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Hobie Mirage Tandem Island Kayak Features
The Hobie Tandem Island is a kayak to behold, and below we are going to look at the features that have made it so popular among Kayak enthusiasts.
Amazing Technology
The Hobie Mirage Tandem Island is equipped with advanced and innovative technology, which serves to increase the efficiency, speed, and fishing capabilities of the kayak.
This technology takes the form of the Mirage Drive system and the Lowrance Ready system.
Mirage Drive is simply an efficient pedal which takes the place of the common and clumsy paddle so that your kayaking becomes simpler and more effective.
The Mirage Drive also gives you the option of pedaling the kayak when the sail is up and when it is furled.
On the other hand, we have the Lowrance Ready system, which comes with a built-in transducer mount to improve your fishing experience.
Comfortable Seating
The Tandem Island offers a Vantage seating system, which ensures ultimate comfort for all sailors who want to spend the day out at sea.
This adjustable seating has 4 settings, which can modify the seat-back, height, bottom and lumbar-support for your benefit.
When the conditions are not ripe for sailing, the cockpit can easily be transformed to a platform that can be pedaled like a standard Fishing kayak.
Excellent Sail Performance
The Tandem Island is outfitted with a roller-furling mainsail, which is similar to the rig found on its Hobie Bravo sibling. This bottomless mainsail has a large surface area, allowing for impressive performance and a great sailing experience.
The furling controls are found in the cockpit, allowing you to easily manage the sails (beaching and higher-wind reefing) with the simple pull of a line.
Pros
- Various color options, which include golden papaya, ivory dune, and red hibiscus
- The kayak is versatile
- Durable hence you will enjoy a long-lasting use
- Can be used as a standard kayak
- Spacious storage options
- This is a very stable kayak
- Easy to operate
Cons
- Expensive
- Boat is large and heavy
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Has anyone used this kayak? How comfortable is the seat?
A: This is the best kayak that I have ever owned. It is designed with a comfortable seat that offers 4 levels of adjustments to your desired comfort.
Q: What type of kayak is this model?
A: This is a sit-on-top kayak that is very stable and durable.
Final Verdict…
This multi-function kayak is a brilliant Hobie invention that will change the way you sail. It’s durable, versatile, reliable and easy to handle, allowing you to explore the blue waters in a fresh and previously impossible way.
So forget the weight of the kayak and the large price tag, it certainly provides value for the money.
So no more wasting time deciding on whether it fits in your budget; this sailing kayak will pay you back handsomely over the next ten years.
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Hobie Mirage is an awesome kayak ever I was seen. Can you tell me the exact loading capacity?
Thanks for your interest. I am also like this kayak very much. This is a very Durable kayak. It’s loading capacity more than 600 lbs / 272 kg.
One of the most expensive kayaks on the market. Can you please suggest me a cost effective Kayak?
Hello Hreddieet,
Yes, a bit expensive. If you are looking for a great kayak that needs all basic standard, you have no other option but spending a good amount of money.
Still, there are some kayak you can find on the market that are cost effective, please check our review section where I reviewed a couple of Kayaks for budget buyers.
Regards
Steven
Bought one of these. As a kayak, the turbo fin contraption is awesome. Easy to break if you have a non-boaty friend who does not understand what shallow water can do to a propulsion system that is 2 feet deep. dealers can supply new fins but they are $$$. know this from experience : (
Sailing is a bit of a different matter. I am a high performance sailor and did not expect that from this boat but it is not very close winded at all. can’t point, can barely close reach, so upwind sailing any long distance, forget it. plan your trip so you can beam reach to and from and you will be fine.
I got the spinnaker also. the design to get the sail up and down (from the ease of the cockpit) is a little klugy. again being an experienced performance sailor I modified it, but it’s not really that great a setup unless you really mess with it. you need to be strong to really get the leech tight, so you can reach without massively luffing – it’s quite a full sail for a gennaker.
the boat hates dead downwind, so call it almost a beam reach to broad reach as your jennaker sweet spots. the boat is easily overpowered in a breeze, and by that I dont mean unstable, but very hard to steer with the tiny centerboard and small rudder. The unstayed mast is very bendy, so the sail gets very full in any breeze and you dont have the traditional controls to flatten it. so as the wind builds the power of the sail builds faster.
the rudder would really benefit from having the arm on top be 2x wider so the driver has leverage. in a blow, the little rudder levers are also nowhere near long enough to control this boat, and your hands will hurt from steering. If I used this a lot, would have a machine shop make longer ones.
We are selling ours. The kayak aspect is nice; love the flipper things, but as a sailboat it’s really subpar. the trampolines are a nice touch when you have little kids out tho.
I’d rather have a pure kayak for kayaking and a sailboat for sailing. this one is quite poor at the latter if you are a real sailor. frustrating when you just want to go sailing and not deal with the design flaws like steering being so difficult. the steering aspect ruins it for me. just a dopey design that will hurt most people’s fingers and hands in any wind at all. certainly not “sit back and drive” – you fight the thing constantly and then you get to a point where the boat is so overpowered you cant steer at all and you have to dump the sails to regain control. for a non experienced boater this would be pretty frightening.
it’s very, very expensive for what it is, too. I was hopiong for that kind of dough, everything would be just so. but it’s not — sailing part needs a lot of tinkering by Hobie. They have never once sent a survey to see how the thing is doing, either.