Hi guys,
Thank you all very much for the nice and positive comments.
Weather was appalling yesterday so I took her for a test run in the local weir. Wind was blowing S.E. 25 - 30 knots with rain and drizzle qualls and wind was tunnelling down the river at significantly more than 30 in gusts.
I have very little experience of sit on top kayaks, so the only comparison I could do was with my very quick sit inside jobs.
Here are my initial impressions of this boats performance.
INITIAL STABILITY - pretty good, certainly better than I expected.
SECONDARY STABILITY - outstanding.
I was able to lean the boat into turns effortlessly and maintain the lean and controlled lean turn for as long as I wanted.
WIND SIGNATURE More than my sleek little SIKS but I expected that. Still acceptable.
MANOUVERABILITY - excellent. With the rudder up and a little pace on, I was able to turn the boat through 180 degrees with a single low brace or stern rudder stroke. She is way more manouverable than any of my SIKS.
SPEED -
It was hard work paddling up wind into 30 plus knots but then again, that would have applied to any kayak. I was able to make reasonable progress though and punching into the wind chops there was no noticable hull slap. A very good thing in a fishing kayak.
Running down wind was something I have never experienced before.
At sprint pace, I was able to get the boat up on the plane and was actually travelling faster than the wind chops
This was a real hoot, and all too quickly, my down wind run was over.
While doing this, however, I was able to put her through some serious trials at speed. low brace/high brace/ lean steer, rudder up/down etc.
This is a genuine high performance SOT. I am delighted with her and can't wait to get her into some more challenging open water conditions. She tends to weathercock a little with the rudder up but when it is deployed - no problem.
SUITABILITY SURF CONDITIONS. My first impression is that I would like a little more volume in the bow and much less volume in the cockpit. The latter is easily fixed and I will be attending to that shortly. She would definately benifiet from a small skeg postioned just behind the paddler to aid in control while running down waves. A small bow scoop similar to Aussie racing surf skis might also be of benifiet. I think my scuppers/ drain holes are not big enough but will persist with them for now.
Overall, I just love this boat. There has been talk on other forums or what constitutes a superyak and what doesn't. For my needs, I believe this boat easily falls within the Superyak category and will do me just fine.
Craig, mate thank you very much for your well thought out comments. Re water in cockpit, I plan to significantly decrease the volume of the cockpit so that when I am in her, there will be little room for water.
re the paddle, My paddle of choice is a SKEE brand expedition sea kayak paddle, 230cm that seems to work very well on this boat.
Re the sail, I have one on one of my expedition boats and will be installing mounting points a bit later.
Re the front rod holders. They do interfere with the forward paddle stroke somewhat. For extended travelling or surf work however, they are easily removed and stowed in one of the hatches. They are more meant for slow trolling small lures or live baiting when paddle performance is not so important.
Re the paddle holder, Still not sure about wher to put it, if at all. Traditionallu, I have just let the paddle rest across my lap in case I need it quickly.
). Maybe I should just start my own build thread to get myself moving along.
