SideKick Ama Kit by Hobie

I got this in the hopes it would make the boat a little more stable with a sail. I found this let me use the chair in the highest setting even when there were waves. It made the ride eben more enjoyable.

Really I just ignore the waves and fish with these attached.. Yes you have to drill holes in your kayak to fit these but the directions are clear and I can paddle without any obstructions, that is to say I don't hit the cross arm on the end of my stroke. It gives me the safety to have gear on my deck without the chance of a roll over and loosing my gear. They are not much of a drag as in water resistance. I set them to be out of the water for the most time. If you spend a lot of time fishing out of your sit on top these are the solution to loosing it all .

Bought the AMA Kit for my 2012 Mirage Adventure . Anyone who has the Mirage Adventure, and wants to use the AMA Kit will require additional Hobie mounting plate kit. I don't have the Hobie part number for the pate kit, but it can be had for $20 online or at your local Hobie dealer.As with anything Hobie expect to open up your wallet, and the Hobie Sidekick AMA Kit is no exception. Don't get me wrong I love my Hobie yak, and wouldn't consider buying anything else, but as with anything you pay for that. For what the AMA Kit actually is, and what it costs might have you scratching your head. I like to keep everything uniform, and under the Hobie brand, I'm just anal like that.That being said I bought the AMA Kit for use with the Hobie sail kit. I'm a fisherman, and Hobie yaks can't be beat in the fishing department. I want to use the sail to aid in getting out to fishing locations with out the fear of catching a wind gust and having all my gear get soaked in the saltwater down here in southern Florida.The installation of the AMA kit is a breeze with the Mirage Adventure once you have the Hobie Mounting plate kit. The plate kit utilizes the existing mounting hardware on the yak that was intended to turn the Mirage into the Island sailboat. Simply install the plate by using the 2 provided screws to secure the plate to the yak, and then install the AMA mount to the plate with the other 2 screws. No drilling of the hull required, its literally a 2 minute installation.My only complaint is the cost of anything Hobie compared to anything and everything else on the market.

I really like this set up because I want to sail in my kayak. Now I haven't actually been in the water with them yet because one of the pontoons had a slow leak. No problems getting a replacement however. The seller is great to work with and Amazon have an amazing return policy. One of the reasons apart from Prime that I go to them first for my needs. I give this item five stars because of the easy way they install on my kayak. I have been told that you can stand up in the kayak with these installed. I'll let you know.Hopefully I'll stay dry.

There are others like this on Amazon for $100-$130. I said to myself, "you get what you pay for! Buy the nicer one!" And much to my surprise, the nicer one — NAME BRAND at that — is shockingly bad.Absolutely terrible product quality. Poorly drilled holes, glue inside doesn't allow locking pin to push through, the button releases on both sides broke the first test (like literally, the first time I took it out of the box), the pipes don't fit into each other smoothly. This is shockingly bad product quality from Hobie.I can't believe that a product manager somewhere in Hobie said that "Yep! Let's sell this one!" with a straight face. This is terrible.

I bit pricey, as is everything with Hobie (just to have the name on the side). There are a few other products on the market, that I noticed after my purchase, that seem to be the exact same yet less expensive and have a different name on the side. All that said, performs well and happy with my purchase...

Great insurance in questionable condition. Not saying you should be out in this condition but definitely make it much safer. As mentioned as it's not easy to paddle with full strokes but workable since it's made for Hobie that you peddle majority of time anyway. It's not a con by any mean. It's laughable by negative reviews due to paddling inconvenience.

This doesn’t fit the hobie PA14 2021 model. The center bar is too narrow. I modified it by cutting the center bar in half, using a 1” pipe in the middle I wrapped the pipe with black electric tape to make it a tight fit and put rebar inside the pipe to stop any flex. Worked okay after I made the center bar long enough to span the width of the kayak. I wouldn’t suggest it for my model of kayak, but since I bought it already and hate returning stuff, I just made it work. If you’re kinda handy, it might work for you.