Boats I've Owned - Seven (7) and Counting

"All kayaks are a compromise of one type or another" - i.e. no such thing as a perfect boat.

Necky Looksha IV (Purchased in 1995/1996): My first kayak - I really lucked out with this one. I bought it used in great condition and at the time knew very little about what makes a good sea kayak.  Had it as my primary boat for several years and sometimes regret selling it. Learned to roll in this boat, did a bit of kayak fishing for stripers and bluefish. It's no longer made by Necky in plastic version.  The Looksha IV was maneouverable and really fun. Not sure the kayaking-bug would have grabbed me as much if my first kayak had been something less inspiring to paddle. Sold it in 2000.

CLC North Bay (Built in 1999): A great project but not my favorite boat to paddle.  I got inspired by local builders and emailed Bobby Curtis, Jay Babina, and Nick Shade in 97/98 for advice on building and to get my courage up to tackle the project. Installed some inlay and hatch.  Eventually sold it in 2006 as it wasn't getting enough use.

NDK Explorer (Purchased in 2002): Decided to get more serious about moving up the BCU chain so got this boat. Helped me build skills, used it a lot, some camping. Eventually found myself using my next boat more (Pintail) so sold it in 2005- would have definitely kept it if I had more room in the garage. Often think of getting another one - very solid.

VCP Pintail (Purchased around 2004): Although the seat was always too small for me, in all other ways the boat "fit" me well and reminded me of the fun turny-ness of my first boat the Looksha IV.  Once I got the Pintail, it's all I paddled. Totally fell in love with the boat. No other boat I've tried handled wind and rough water so well.  Nothing else as fun to paddle. Rope skeg (used often) was sometimes a pain to fiddle with. Ocean cockpit so secure and comfy as compared to keyhole - but a minor struggle to enter/exit. Bought used (a '96 Pintail) and sold it in 2010 due to loss of my boat storage. New owner was thrilled to get it. Had to flip a coin between selling the Pintail or Romany. Chances are good I'll buy another one someday. UPDATE!: Valley stopped making this boat - if you can find one, grab it!

NDK Romany (Purchased in 2008): Wanted a 2nd boat as a loaner and something more "vanilla" than the Pintail.  A Romany was the boat I would usually grab when staffing programs with AKT no matter the venue.  Familiar feel after owning the Explorer. Surfs straighter and handles following seas better than the Pintail. But surprisingly more volume in front than Pintail - had to expand my front cradle straps more than a little when switching to the Romany.  

Epic V8 Surf Ski (Purchased 2013): Bought a used surf ski to work on forward paddling form. The V8 is a beginner ski, stable and 18 feet long.  Great to work on forward stroke, knees-up helps torso rotation. Shoulder injury prevented me from doing much distance paddling so sold it.

Valley Gemini SP (Purchased 2014):  Wanted something for shorter local paddles and lighter to be easier to move around.  Great boat - shorter play style kayak but has enough of the "standard" sea kayak features to be appropriate for any type of coastal day paddling.  Full review on my Gemini SP blog post.

Tiderace Xtreme Review - Norwalk Islands

Been thinking about getting a new boat for awhile – something that’s fun in waves and maneuverable but also a bit faster and more comfortable in the cockpit than the smallish boats I’ve owned recently. Not sure such a boat exists, but I saw the Xtreme online some months ago and it’s been on my short-list to demo. The boat just came in at the Outdoor Sports Center  in Wilton CT (Call Mark Bodian who runs the kayak department there). Yes the descriptions of the Xtreme describe it as more of a surf-machine than I need, but what the heck, it might be a decent all-around boat too and so worth a look. So I took the Xtreme for a test paddle around the Norwalk Islands in CT on Sunday, April 17th 2011.

Xtreme on Ram Island, Norwalk, CT

The day of my paddle, the wind had shifted from east to west overnight but without enough time to create any real waves – according to NOAA, steady 20 knot west wind with higher gusts and no particular waves, not my preferred paddling conditions to say the least. But there are only so many weekends in the year so I went for it.  I’m a local Long Island Sound weekend-warrior and not someone who ventures regularly into the conditions the boat was built for. For that review – check out this website: http://paulkuthe.blogspot.com/2011/04/tiderace-xtreme-review.html He’s got some amazing photos of the Xtreme in big surf on the west coast. My overall impression is that this boat would be best appreciated by a very well-conditioned paddler who can really throw some strong moves at the boat. That’s not me (at this point). But what I could assess paddling in heavy wind around the Norwalk Islands is it’s general behavior, and in my opinion, despite being a “specialty” kayak geared to bigger conditions, the Xtreme is also a very viable all-around boat for general use. (I’m 5’10”, 175 lbs).

The boat is hard-chined and heavily rockered. Like the Maelstrom Vaag, the rocker is evident as a bend/fold in the boat at the rear of the cockpit rather than spread out across the length of the boat. My guess is this keeps the boat sensibly straight-running overall but then maneuverable when edged or on a wave. The cockpit is noticeably further aft of center than many kayaks – less boat behind the cockpit means less boat stuck in a wave as one paddles forward. As I understand it, this is intended to help the boat keep a straight course on a wave rather than broaching, and make it easier to turn the boat when riding a wave. The boat is 17’ but relatively high volume overall. There’s a lot of boat there – noticeably more than my most recently owned boats (Pintail and Romany). The cockpit is again the very positive-feeling design typical of the Tiderace boats. I would say the Xtreme has a noticeably lower deck than the Xcite, but the knee position is still higher and more centered than in a Romany or Pintail. This cockpit arrangement is my favorite part of all the Tiderace boats – and due to some lumbar-disk issues I’ve dealt with this past season, it is a more comfortable position for me than more extreme Indian-style, splayed-out knee positions on other boats. To me the Tiderace seat/deck/thigh-hook arrangement helps with forward paddling and allows me a more upright posture. I think more boat manufacturers should consider something similar.

This boat is purpose-built for bigger waves and tidal races. Not having the opportunity to try the boat in these conditions, I can only make observations about how the boat behaves as a general sea kayak. But I had glimpses of how the boat might do in bigger stuff. Rounding the south side of Chimon with the wind behind me, some 2’ waves lifted the boat in a way I haven’t felt to that degree. Got some nice rides there. Rather than being pushed out in front of the wave or struggling to match the wave speed to get a ride, the Xtreme was picked up and held on the crest with much less effort than other boats I’ve paddled. Very maneuverable in that position too. I have to assume this is due to the comparatively wide/flat hull shape and to the reduced amount of boat aft of the cockpit. Waves can tuck under the boat easily and its planing hull wants to sit on the wave. Very cool. The hard chine and flat hull make for more responsive edging/turning on a wave than other boats I’ve owned. Like the Maelstrom Vaag which has similar up-turned rocker in the stern, the Xtreme yawed a bit more than some boats in small (1’) following seas. But once on the wave it was a pleasure to paddle.

In my paddling around the islands, the Xtreme felt reasonably fast and tracked well. I’m used to boats that more readily weather-cock as compared to the Xtreme. Perhaps due to the comparatively large amount of boat forward of the cockpit (center of mass more to the rear), I found that the Xtreme didn’t weather cock at all and had some minor lee-cocking in the 20+ knot winds when the wind was at the beam or front quarter. Edge and sweep correct this. It’s a compromise I suppose – a kayak that readily weather-cocks can be corrected with a skeg (but that can be a pain if too skeg-dependant). One that doesn’t weather cock as much is great unless you want to turn into the wind and might even be a chore if you’re constantly doing sweep strokes to aim up-wind. I’d need to have the boat out many more times in variable conditions to make any solid observations about the Xtreme’s directional stability. Battling big winds on the day of a test paddle (as I was) limits one’s ability to objectively observe a new boat’s handling. I also took it into the marina to see how it would feel in more sheltered conditions – it was nice, maneuverable, fun to carve turns, etc.

Headwind, Norwalk, CT

Finish on the boat is great as in all Tiderace boats. One minor caveat – the hatch covers are tethered on the inside, but unlike an earlier Xcite I paddled, the tethers are permanently glassed in (see photo) so if it breaks you can’t easily replace it.

Hatch cover tether

Made this graphic (below) in powerpoint showing how the cockpit of the Xtreme appears to be set a bit further back than some other boats - both the Nordkapp LV and Tiderace Xcite have more boat aft of the cockpit (extend beyond line). Seems to confirm what I saw and what I've read about the design of the Xtreme. It's not intended to be as balanced fore-and-aft as these more general purpose sea kayaks.