For many of today’s boaters, love of the water began in childhood on a Hobie product. For me, it was hanging off the side as ballast during races on my grandfather’s Hobie Cat, and puttering around the lake on the Hobie Sunfish and the indestructible Hobie Holder (which I once sailed directly into a weeping willow tree) that rotated through his fleet. “The founder of Hobie has always tried to break down barriers,” says James McBeath, director of marketing. “He reduced the barrier of entry to surfing by creating mass-marketed surfboards back in the day when it was really hard to get a surfboard. After that was the skateboard, and after that was the Hobie Cat.”
Now the company is breaking down barriers to fishing with the Hobie iTrek Angler 10 and 12. Hobie’s team looked at the marketplace of roto-molded kayaks and realized they don’t work for everyone. “There’s a baby boomer generation that can’t even lift these boats onto a trailer because the boats are heavier,” McBeath says. “You can’t lift them. You can’t store them. There are a lot of people who would love to get into kayak-fishing but can’t physically deal with a fishing kayak.”
Hobie’s answer is this inflatable iTrek that includes the Mirage Drive pedal system. The board deflates and packs into a bag that, even with the pedal system, is still under airplane carry-on weight. “And for big-boat users, you don’t have to hoist it up on the back of the boat,” McBeath says. “You can take it wherever you want. The modern inflation pumps mean it’s five minutes of inflation.”
Rails and a crate allow room to mount accessories and stow tackle boxes. There’s a place to strap in four rods, and a mount for an electric motor.
“For folks who want to go offshore, we tested it in those waves,” he says. “So it’s great for offshore and inshore. It’s an all-around boat.”
The unique combination, he adds, is the portability, the amount of gear it can carry, and the pedal drive. “The fact that it’s on an inflatable is a big deal.”
Lots of Options
Hobie calls the rails on each side of this board H-Rails. Wiring can be run through them to batteries stored in the back as a way to power accessories, like a fish finder. Anglers also can clamp dozens of kinds of things to the rails. Some examples include camera mounts and tablets running apps that might help to find more fish.
Take the next step: hobie.com
