Fishing Australia

While I’ve had the privilege of being able to kayak in every Australian State and Territory, I haven’t done nearly as much sailing. A stack of windsurfing as a youngster, a few stints of cats and the occasional sail on a big live aboard cat each year is about it. However, at a recent Hobie trial day at Forster I got to have a spin in the new Hobie Tandem Adventure Island which is known as a trimaran “sail/yak” and I have to say I’ll now be sailing a lot more the future.

A lot of the enjoyment on the day had to do with the advancements this craft offers, but why sail in the first place?

The answers are many and varied. The fun of learning the how to use the wind to your advantage and the resulting sound of the hull slicing the water without any engine noise stood out the most too me. It was both active and relaxing at the same time.

Whatever it is that makes sailing so attractive, I haven’t had such a good time in years and my kids agreed.

To add to the excitement it allows kayak anglers the ability to go further with less effort, which means you can reach more spots and you can even go high speed trolling while under sail if you desire.

I must say though, I had held off from sailing and fishing for a long time because I had put it in the too hard basket. I guess I still had in the back of my mind the exertion needed to windsurf properly and there was also the fear of sailing the complicated and cumbersome craft that I had come across in the past.

But most of all, what about when the wind is too weak and you get stuck, or worse still the wind is too strong and you get into trouble…

Well, the Hobie Tandem Island does away with all that because if it is too windy you simply furl up the sail by pulling a rope and then use the mirage drive. This makes negotiating tricky tight areas simple, and the streamlined shape of the craft means you can easily navigate in strong currents and winds if need be.

And if the breeze dies out? Once again simply employ the mirage drive which has outstanding propulsion in its own right.

Sure you still have to use common sense and check the forecast, but put simply having the mirage drive as a back up means that if the sailing gets too hard for any reason at all, you have an a backup form of propulsion that is silent, as well as fuel and maintenance free; no other sailing craft can offer this option.

I soon found I was using a combination of both the sail and mirage drive to zip around the estuary. When the breeze picked up the sailing was a scream. This baby moves along at breath taking pace and being so close down to the water makes things even more exhilarating.

The craft is incredibly stable thanks a Polynesian Style Amass on each side which are can be removed or folded in via the click of a button.

Despite its impressive size for a kayak it is extremely easy to handle and is made in the typically ingenious Hobie manner with lots of robust features that made sailing even more pleasurable. I am still gob smacked at how easy it all was compared to sailing a less advanced craft.

For the record the Tandem Adventure Island is 5.64 m long, 3.05 m wide with the amass out, or 0.76 m with the amass removed. RRP starts at around $5,500.

For more information check out www.hobiekayaks.com.au

For the price you are effectively getting a red hot sailing machine and also one of the best kayaks on the planet. You can easily specialize in using it either way.

And did I mention that with the new tandem version you can of course take a friend along.  You know what they say: “two's company, three's a crowd!” I agree, this craft is a god-send for a couple of people who just want to have some fun.

FISHING AUSTRALIA NEW SERIES FOR 2010

I am pumped to announce that the all new series of FISHING AUSTRALIA starts on Saturday, 5th June. There is lots of fresh and saltwater fishing, kayaking, beach fishing, game fishing and more, for species like trout, flathead, bream, jewfish, barra, sailfish, murray cod, golden perch and the list goes on.

When it comes to new target species that have yet to be filmed in this country; sometimes we win, sometimes we loose, but the excitement is as much in the journey as it is in the final result and I believe you will be as amazed as I was to see some of the places we adventured, or attempted to venture into… We have had a lot of surprises so far and filming is far from over.

The new series will be screened on WIN Television, NBN, Imparja and Channel Nine around Australia and will air in most places, Saturday's at 5pm.  But check your local TV guide for exact details

Enjoy.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos