TideRace Kayaks

By -
Last weekend I went to Port Townsend Washington to the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium.  It is a great event where anyone can come and enjoy taking classes, sitting in on lectures and demoing lots of kayaks.  

There was a new kayak that caught my attention and I decided to take it out for a demo.  The kayak is named the Xplore by TideRace Kayaks.  I wish I could have spent more time in the kayak and enjoy it in various conditions.  But I will just give my first impressions.


At first sight the lines of the kayak are very pleasing.  The color schemes are very catchy as well. Overall the finish of the kayak looked really solid and has an additional hatch just forward of the cockpit.  The placement of the day hatch seemed to be a bit of a problem for me.  It was centered behind the cockpit, making it difficult to access.  I am not sure but maybe the future builds will have the day hatch offset to one side.  The Xplore is 18 feet long and has a beam of 21 inches.  It seems to be a very fast moving kayak through the water.  When on edge the kayak seemed to display very predictable stability.  I found the kayak to be very maneuverable and  have quick response.  I could see using the Xplore as a great multi-day kayak.  Plenty of storage space, great speed and still very playful.  My chance to paddle the kayak was in calm water conditions so I cannot speak for weather cocking or other factors of paddling in rough conditions.  The kayak was designed with the idea of being used in rough conditions.  I would be more than happy to test one out any day in rougher conditions.

If you are interested in the kayaks you can visit Body Boat Blade in Washington State  or Alder Creek  in Portland Oregon.

Comments

Erling said…
I have had my Xplore (Hardcore lay-up) since early spring and am very pleased with it. Normally I do day-trips, but this summer I also used it for a week-long expedition. It takes it all in stride, I find it a great allround kayak. Regarding the day hatch: According to the designer it is located in the centre to increase boat strength.
October 8, 2008 at 4:12 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Astral Greenjacket Review

By -
Image
I have finally spent a bit more time in the Astral Greenjacket and I have decided it is time to go ahead with my finally review of the product. My previous jacket was a Stohlquist Brik .  Which is a side entry style jacket.  I was really happy with performance and fit.  I did have a zipper problem which was a not really taken care of by Stohlquist.  I was teaching a class and was performing a "Cowboy/Back Deck" rescue and the zipper broke.  When I contacted service dept to get it fixed they wanted me to pay shipping and charge for the repair of a new jacket.  I passed on the factory repair and did the best I could do. I do not recommend that.  Next issue I had was there is simply no storage on the vest.  Not that big of a deal since I try to not load myself with stuff.  Overall it was a good fit and a clean front making it snag free while messing about the deck of my sea kayak. On to the Greenjacket !   My use of the Greenjacket is for sea kayak guiding and personal kayaking
Read more

Morning Kayak Lessons

By -
Image
A good start to the day when you wake up and see the sun and having to get on the water to teach kayak lessons.  Though it was cold outside, I could tell it was going to warm nicely once the sun had time to do its work.  After a cup of coffee it was time to meet Lauren (my student for the class) and load the gear and get on the water.  The water was perfect, flat calm and good for learning the basics.  Lauren has taken classes before and it pretty up to speed on self rescue.  So we were out to work on kayak handling skills.  Mainly driving home proper edging, body movement and blade placement. After the lesson it was off to grab a bite to eat and get back outside.  I of course headed out to check in the Red Tailed Hawks (RTHs).  I ran into Monika again,  http://orcawatcher.blogspot.com/  , who once again got great images on the RTHs in flight. She got some images of the pair together.  I was able to locate the Rufous Morph further south. There was a visitor with me in town from London
Read more

Seward G3 Passat Kayak Review

By -
Image
Our good friends at Seward Kayaks on Vancouver Island build amazing kayaks with attention to detail.  As a Sea Kayak Guide for Discovery Sea Kayaks , I have been around the G3 Passat tandem kayak for over 5 years. Overall my preference is a single kayak but for tours, we put all clients in tandem kayaks.  So by default, I have had the chance to get to know the kayaks really well.   The first impression you get when you unwrap one of this kayak is WOW!  They are very pleasing to the eye with great lines and beautiful profile.  The finish of the kayak is great.  Typically really smooth without any pockets or imperfections in the gel coat.  There is no denying they are one of the best looking tandems you can buy. Specifications: Length: 22 feet Width: 26 inches Weight: 90 pounds Looking at the specs you can see that the long waterline combined with the narrow beam (width), for a tandem, that this is a fast kayak.  At first, we were a bit worried about the wid
Read more