Hobie Revolution -- discontinued

I found this picture on my phone that shows my gear track layout.

I should say, too, that the best advice I got about where to put tracks and accessories is to just sit in your kayak and imagine where things are. Does the rod holder get in the way of your knees while you're pedaling? Is the fish finder too far away to comfortably poke at its controls? Etc. There's not really any one best solution; each person's body and preferences will be different.

Great advice CR.  I bring painters tape and mark exact locations.

Another thing to consider is if you can condense things to one side. I have thought about this a lot, which is if you are running things on both sides, and you flip your boat, getting back in COULD be significantly more difficult.  If you have one clean side it gives you more room to re-board and less things to catch on when draging yourself back-in. 

On my Tandem Island, which is similar to the revo, but the gunnels area a bit wider. I used a combo of large washers and also custom backer plates made with aluminum strip that I drilled out. You lose the advantage of the threaded holes on the official backer plates which helps with installation, but it gives you a bit more flexibility for mounting.

I have not heard anything about the Revo being discontinued, but if true, that would be sad. At the same time, it wouldn't be hard to believe, given where the money is in the sport.

I've rigged a few Revo 13 boats and this is the configuration I've settled on. 4 16" rails, mounted with 1/2" coarse thread machine screws. I drill a pilot hole for each screw and hand tighten them. My theory is that more fasteners distributed across a longer run means that a backing plate isn't needed, although this is just my theory. I also don't use them for a downrigger.

I really love this setup as it's minimal and easy to install, but provides lots of options. I have two RAM balls permanently mounted on the two rear rails, just fore of the molded rod holders that I use for the RAM Revo tube rod holders(I also cut out the bottom of the tubes so rod butts go all the way through.

Thanks for the advice and detailed pictures! I still need to take the Revo out for a test pedal, so I will follow CR and snopro's advise on sorting out the track positioning.

Rawkfish's layout is what I had in mind, but I will start with just the front tracks before making up my mind about tankwell tracks. I usually depend on my Blackpak for the rod tubes and tackle storage, but I do see the benefit of using the space for a cooler bag and relying on rail mounted rod storage.

I worked out the rigging slightly differently, but I see others have shared my concern about the strength of the rod holder mount in the front. I mounted a scotty base with reinforcing plate up front for salmon trolling, with a zig zag dogbone to get the rod in a reachable position. For light duty trolling I have a straight dogbone connected to accessory track - the same track where I have my fish finder. This track is obviously weaker and likely would be seriously overloaded at the rod holder with a salmon pulling drag on an 8 ft rod. For extra rod storage, I have PVC pipe mounted to my egg crate, and the egg crate is strapped to the boat with camlock straps.

9 years ago when I got my Revo I wanted to put as few holes in it as possible and never have to move anything once installed. I took it out on the water and tried reaching different parts of the gunnel from the seat and also from sitting on the center hatch. I pedaled and watched where my legs and knees traveled. I put on my drysuit and pdf and practiced reentry, watching where on the gunnel I climbed over. I marked these places so I knew where the no-go zones were.

One side had a wide path for reentry. My rod holders and sonar were placed just out of reach of my knees opposite the reentry side. I found this really shortened the area for gear track and it is a bit of a forward reach to get to the rod holders and sonar unit but I don't need to worry about accidentally knocking them into the drink. There's also lots of room for netting.

I've been calling mine a collectors item after buying a few powerboats. Now I guess it actually is.

Some interesting chatter coming from Hobie on social media with their new marketing director making posts.   That they are bringing back the single seat adventure Island would tell me they haven’t gone in 100% on the bassbarge market….  Time will tell though. 

 I didn’t find it interesting he notes that they have more global market than other manufacturers. I have no idea how true that is, but it is interesting.  I don’t think the rest of the world bass fishes quite like the US and there is lots of ocean fishing going on around the world that would be more suited towards the Revo line.  Maybe not all hope is lost!

I posted on the FB thread for the new marketing Director and questioned why they were discontinuing the Revo.  I was told they were not. 

Maybe there is hope...

I saw your post and his response.  Good prodding!   Could be a thing were Revo’s just aren’t stocked like the rest of the line and are special order too…or maybe there is a new update coming….we shall see!

This seems like good news, and I appreciate you guys following up.

Also, you're ruining my excuse to get a new revo this year! 

Any idea which dealers are saying its discontinued.  Hobie employees are saying it is not and want to know which dealers to reach out to.

Any idea which dealers are saying its discontinued.  Hobie employees are saying it is not and want to know which dealers to reach out to.

Is it still just the one sales rep for the southeast saying he hasn't heard about revos being discontinued?

A post on another forum -- this is the post that corroborated what a dealer told me -- was pretty specific as to the location of the dealer who told them the revo lineup was getting nixed.

I'm staying mum regarding the identity of the dealer that I spoke with; I don't want to cause them any trouble. Way I see it is if Hobie actually wanted to set the record straight they could send a memo to all dealers.

is the confusion over whether the revo is CURRENTLY discontnued (which it does not appear to be for 24) vs. that it is going to be discontinued after this year?