Kayaks on display along the Gandy Bridge causeway.
Today I tried out 9 different kayaks at the kayak demo day hosted by Paddle-Fishing.com .
It was a fantastic opportunity to try out different yaks and compare them side-by-side. Here is a description of the kayaks I paddled today and my impressions. Keep in mind that I’m not generally knowledgeable about kayak designs, performance or features. All my impressions are extremely subjective. Nothing scientific about this at all. All the kayaks I paddled today were sit-on-top kayaks.
RTM Disco – The first yak I paddled today was this sleek model. It’s about 13 feet and quite narrow and tippy. It was a fast boat and took very little effort to paddle–very similar to the Easky 13 sit-in-kayak I paddled a week ago. I deliberately capsized it to see how far I could lean before it went over. It took almost no effort on my part to capsize. I managed to scrape my hand on some barnacles on a rock during the capsize. I’d like to say thank-you to Masthead Enterprises and others who scratched around and came up with a couple of band-aids to stop the bleeding so I could continue my demos. Storage space on the Disco is limited and it is a wet ride, meaning that any water that splashes or drips in the boat finds its way to your butt.
RTM Midway – This kayak is very similar to the Disco, but is slightly longer (15 feet) and wider and has a chine on the bottom, rather than being rounded like the Disco. So, it was slightly more stable, but was still quite easy to capsize. It was fast like the Disco but took just slightly more effort to get it going. It’s also a wet ride. More so than some of the other kayaks I tried today.
RTM Tempo – This is apparently the reincarnation of the popular Scupper Pro. It is significantly more stable than both the Disco and Midway, but still maintains some semblance of speed without too much effort. Nevertheless, it is still narrower than popular kayaks like the Prowler, the Tarpon, and Malibu x-13.
The RTM kayaks are made in France. They are carried by Masthead Enterprises in St. Petersburg. Masthead was on hand to demo these kayaks.
RTM Kayaks (orange) on the Gandy causeway beach.
Ocean Kayak Trident – Next I paddled Ocean Kayak’s Trident 13, Trident 15, and the new 4.7 model. All were very similar: very stable, well-thought-out placement of storage (with fishermen in mind), and solid construction. The Trident 13 was noticeably more maneuverable than the other two and tracked just fine. Sitting side-saddle was very comfortable and stand-up paddling was a piece of cake. You can really get a good look into the water when standing up. This is handy for spotting fish, shells, sting-rays, dolphins, or for just getting a good stretch after paddling for a while. These kayaks are stable enough to scooch up to the forward hatch without making the boat unstable, and the tank well in back is within easy reach. All three of the O.K. boats I paddled had rudders, which were quite handy. One thing I notice with rudders is that the turning radius is quite large. I think they are more useful for keeping the boat tracking well in windy conditions.
Tony Lai of Ocean Kayak Pro Staff was extremely helpful and probably spent a solid half hour answering my questions and helping me out with paddling technique and pointing out the differences between the 3 boats. I spent quite a bit of time in these Ocean Kayak boats because they were the boats I’ve been most interested in for the last year or so.
UPDATE, April 2012: I finally purchased a new Ocean Kayak Trident 13 from Osprey Bay Outdoors in Clearwater, FL.
The RTM Tempo (blue) next to the Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160i.
Tarpon 160i – This boat is similar to the Tarpon 140 that I’d paddled over to Caladesi Island last week, except that it had an additional foot of length on the bow and stern, which was put to good design use, resulting in a fast paddling boat. It was faster than the O.K. Tridents, but not tremendously so. It was slightly less stable than the Tridents, but nothing like the tippiness of the RTM’s. The Wilderness Systems Rep that helped me with the boat told me that I would find it quite tippy, but honestly it felt like a battleship after paddling the RTM Disco and Midway. I really liked this boat, but it is a good 3 feet longer than what I prefer for storage and transport. I deliberately capsized this boat to see where it’s “edge” was. I won’t say it was “hard” to capsize, but it did take some very deliberate effort on my part to do so. Flipping it back over and re-boarding was easy in waist-deep water.
Malibu X-13 – This boat is similar to the Trident Prowler. I liked the storage hatch in front of me, but it was quite small compared to the O.K. Tridents’ rod-holder storage. Couldn’t put much in it. It was the most comfortable boat to sit side-saddle in because of the flat design of the center hatch (which becomes a natural seat in side-saddle position). I found the X-13 to be similar in speed and paddling-effort to the O.K. Tridents. One thing I noticed right away though was the noise from hull-slap (water slapping against the boat hull). Not a big deal, but I didn’t notice it on any of the other boats. It also has a large bulky front hatch that I found odd and a bit cumbersome when trying to move up and sit near the bow. It’s a fine yak though.
Emotion Grand Slam (red) among competitors.
Emotion Grand Slam – This was the last kayak I tried. It paddled fairly easily–I’d say it falls between the Trident 13 and the Tarpon 160i–yet offered considerable stability. The Grand Slam was a very comfortable boat, and the bottom of the cockpit was very flat, which I loved–at first. I soon realized that the center hatch was under a quarter-inch of water which had been splashed into the boat. There was no way to retrieve what was in the center hatch without sponging the water out of the bottom of the cockpit. So I didn’t think that was a very well-thought-out design, except for folks who really don’t need the center hatch.
So, what did I decide? After paddling them all, one right after the other for 3 hours, in addition to my prior paddling experiences, I’ve decided that I’m willing to trade some speed and paddling ease for extra stability and storage. I need more of a platform for snorkeling, fishing and overall comfort and gear-hauling and I find that the O.K. Prowler Trident 13 seems to fit the bill. It also has lots of accessories available when needed.
Thanks to the Paddle-Fishing.com folks, I now feel much more comfortable in making an informed decision.
You can see more pictures taken at demo-day at the paddle-fishing forum.
