Richard Cree

As soon as you mention to anyone that you are thinking about buying a sea kayak, they all jump in with the same suggestion: ‘try as many as possible.’ This advice has a good beginning, but will it help you choose the correct kayak? Most people turn up on the beach,
paddle towards the sunset, turn around and paddle back. These five minutes of forward paddling is what most people base their buying decision on. Trying a selection of boats is good - what happens is you end up with a short list of 12 and there is always another
one coming out next month that’s worth waiting for. This article won’t tell you what kayak to buy, it won’t even tell you what brand to buy, but hopefully it will open your mind and make you think in another way about what you want and what you need. And help you on your way to purchasing the right kayak…

Cost is often the deciding factor! Do you have a budget? When buying a sea kayak you can spend anything between £500 and £5000. Remember - more expensive isn’t necessarily better. You may pay out for features you don’t need or can’t use.

If you are purchasing your first kayak and you’re just starting out, you need to be aware that as your skill, performance and ability levels increase and you build your stamina you may quickly outgrow your kayak. Look for a kayak that presents you with a bit of a
challenge;

look for a kayak that’s ‘better’ than you – if it ‘fits’ you properly and you are
committed to paddling, a good coach can show you how to get the best from your purchase.

So where do you start? Start at the bottom and work your way up – try different hull shapes, V shaped hulls, hard and soft chined, round or flat bottomed. They are all different and each has unique handling characteristics; see which you prefer and more importantly, can you write down why?

WhAT’S IMPORTANT?

SPEED
My paddling mates always leave me behind; it must be the boat that’s not fast enough’.
Most kayaks cruise around the same speed; unless you want to be beating records (in which case you should buy a specific racing kayak) speed should not be too much of a consideration. Most boats cruise at around two to four knots (four to eight km/hour). The general rule - 10% effort is equal to 90% speed - the next 10% speed takes another 90% effort. The average cruising speed is around three knots (six km/h); this leaves a bit more if needed, and it’s no too hard to sustain over a days paddle If speed is an issue and you don’t want a racing sea kayak, then I would recommend having a good coach look at your paddling technique.

STABILITY
how stable is unstable? Your perception
of stability is personal to you. Try and
ignore people giving you advice about
a kayaks stability; people often classify
boats wrongly, all sea kayaks are
stable. A bold statement! Get it in to
your head and believe it. If you go to
try a boat and in your head you can
remember someone at the club or on a
forum telling you how unstable it is and
how you are going to fall out - what do
you think will happen?
Different hull shapes behave
differently on water and you will
probably form a preference after you
try a few. Stability is talked about in
two parts – ‘initial’ and ‘secondary’. A
boat with a flat hull may have greater
initial stability and less secondary.

A kayak with a v shaped hull may
have less initial stability and greater
secondary stability. They are all
just different, they will all behave
differently. I am not going to describe
each or guide you towards one, go and
try them all, just remember - All sea
kayaks are stable.
STAbILITY
how stable is unstable? Your perception
of stability is personal to you. Try and
ignore people giving you advice about
a kayaks stability; people often classify
boats wrongly, all sea kayaks are
stable. A bold statement! Get it in to
your head and believe it. If you go to
try a boat and in your head you can
remember someone at the club or on a
forum telling you how unstable it is and
how you are going to fall out - what do
you think will happen?
Different hull shapes behave
differently on water and you will
probably form a preference after you
try a few. Stability is talked about in
two parts – ‘initial’ and ‘secondary’. A
boat with a flat hull may have greater
initial stability and less secondary.

A kayak with a v shaped hull may
have less initial stability and greater
secondary stability. They are all
just different, they will all behave
differently. I am not going to describe
each or guide you towards one, go and
try them all, just remember - All sea
kayaks are stable.
VOLuME/ STORAGE CAPACITY
Choosing your first kayak
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We humans are all different, we
come in all shapes and sizes; it’s
what makes the world what it is.
This means that building the perfect
kayak for everyone is impossible.
Comfort has two areas as far as
paddling is concerned. The first is
linked to how well you are connected,
this can be aided with padding and
is a small adjustment, for example
to your seat, hip pads and backrest,
but is, however, incredibly important
when you come to use your boat in
a dynamic manner. The second area
is governed by physical size. I saw a
boat at the weekend
that has been modified with two
“eyes” to accommodate the
owner’s feet. If you have size 12 feet
your boat choice will be less than if
your feet were smaller (unless you
know a man who can build feet pods).
how long are your legs? how big are
your thighs? These are all governing
factors to you picking your boat; if it
doesn’t fit - it doesn’t fit.
Things to look out for - how high
are the tops of your hips in relation
to the cockpit coming; if the tops of
your thighs are below - the kayak is
too big! If the tops of your thighs are
above the coming - the kayaks
is too small! Do you have to sit with
your ankles bent so your feet lay flat?
Does the skeg slider get in the way
of your knee? Does the back of the
cockpit hurt your back? All these
things are non adjustable and would
put the kayak firmly in the ‘doesn’t
fit’ category.
COMfORT
Where will you keep your kayak?
how will you transport it? If storage
is an issue then consider a folding or
inflatable kayak. Most glass and plastic
kayaks are happy to be stored outside,
ideally off the ground and supported
on hatch rims with the hatches off
(and stored inside out the light) and
covered with a tarpaulin. They should
be rinsed after being on the sea to
clean off all salt water; ideally they
should also be dried. Most people
transport their kayaks on the roof of
their cars. how high is your car? Can
you reach the roof? how heavy are the
boats you are looking at? Most of the
sea kayak manufacturers make kayaks
from different materials – a general
rule of thumb - the lighter a kayak
is, the more expensive it will be. Will
you have help to load and unload it?

how long is your roof? Is it long
enough to support your new kayak?
There are many roof rack systems
available; perhaps it’s worth looking
around and seeing what fits in with
your ideas.
STORAGE / TRANSPORT
Are you buying for an expedition?
how easily can you get the boat where
you need it? Plastic boats only come
in one piece. Glass boats can come in
one, two or three pieces (two piece
glass boats are usually doubles). In
short, if you are travelling on a plane
and you need a glass boat it’s probably
going to come in three pieces. There
are manufacturers making three-
piece kayaks; generally they cost a
bit more, weigh a bit more and take a
bit longer on order. If you don’t need
a glass boat, or if travelling were
more complicated than just a flight,
another option would be a folding
or inflatable kayak. Inflatable kayaks
have come on leaps and bounds, but
they aren’t everyone’s choice and
are rarely referred to as sea kayaks.
folding boats have improved hugely;
they are simple and hardwearing and
would be my first choice for a multi
day trip in an isolated location.
ExPEDITION
This will depend how well you treat
it, how you store it and what it’s
made of. I know people who paddle
glass kayaks that are 30 years old. I
also know people with glass boats a
year old that look much older. Glass
can (generally) be repaired and look
as good as new. Plastic boats can be
welded, but seldom look as good.
Another thing to consider is wear
and tear; a plastic boat under abuse
will go ‘furry’, where a glass kayak
will scratch, but this can be repaired.
If you want to keep a plastic kayak
looking good, I believe (contrary to
popular opinion) that you need to
take more care of it than you would
a glass kayak.
When and where are you going to
be paddling your new kayak? If it’s for
multi day trips, how will you repair it if
it suffers damage? Glass boats can be
(effectively) repaired ‘mid expedition’
either short term, or if you have
materials, long term.

About all you
can do with a broken or damaged
plastic kayak is stick a patch on it.
folding and inflatable kayaks often
come with a repair kit; usually a form
of patch; this can be awkward as
the patches usually only stick to dry
fabrics.
hOW LONG IT WILL LAST / CAN IT bE REPAIRED?
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Established 2003
58 | OCEAN PADDLER
hopefully you now have a shorter list. You
have come a long way; you have hopefully
selected two or three ‘candidates’ from an
ever-increasing list, but how are you going
to effectively compare them and make a
buying decision?
What you need is the opportunity to try
and compare your selected kayaks at the
same time. This can be difficult; organising
demo boats from different outfitters and
retailers can and is problematic! however
it will be well worth the effort. Trying boats
on different days can be dodgy and give
you the wrong results; imagine day one -
the sun shines, you see a dolphin and you
have a great day with your friends. Day
two is grey and cold; there’s no wildlife and
the guy you are with keeps falling in. Day
one was probably the better experience
- believe it or not, in your head you are
associating all the good things with the
first kayak, the second kayak may have
been better, but you didn’t notice because
everything else was appalling.
CONCLuSION

WAYS TO COMPARE

Things I would be looking for (in no particular order):
• how comfortable are you after an hour? If you haven’t gotten pins and needles within an hour - you probably wont.
• Try the kayaks upwind, downwind, across the wind, and off the wind. A good way to do this would be using a coastline or buoys or anchored boats; use the same course and keep notes if you have to.
• Can you roll? You should try it. Try a self-rescue, can you get on the back deck. have your friend rescue you; you should try everything that you would do in your own kayak. by now you are probably coming to a conclusion; a favourite will be emerging.

Other things to try:
• how comfortably can you hold a consistent edge? Try paddling in a circle using the edge to steer.
• Try some turning strokes - a cross deck bow rudder - how well does each kayak turn? how much edge do you need to turn faster, how comfortable are you in this ‘rotated’ position? You don’t need to try a cross deck rudder, you could try a sweep stroke or a stern rudder; remember to try all the strokes in both flat and lumpier water and with the wind from all directions.

have you made a decision?
If so, you know you have done all you can to choose the right boat. And if you haven’t, it shouldn’t be too far away. Don’t be influenced by a sales person offering discount, take
your and get the right kayak for you.

THANKS
Thanks to Ann and Jeff of Kari-Tek. A recent demo day on the Clyde gave me the opportunity to talk to their customers and try out some of these ideas.