Watching several paddling colleagues attempt to paddle a boat narrower than 20 inches wide I was quite skeptical at my abilities. So, let me say to Epic, fix the handles and watch the weight!Īfter eight years of paddling, I finally graduated to a surf ski. Why is there no drain? I have had so many kayaks over the years and it seems like most of the designs get to 80% and screw something up that really would have made it a 100% boat. That means, if the smallest amount of water gets in the seat, you get to sit in it the entire time. The second issue is more or less a surfski thing I guess. Epic should know this and should have fixed the grab handle placement. It is annoying enough that it will not see the water as much as I hoped it would. It is just that the balance is wrong and there really is nothing you can do. It isn't that the boat is to heavy, though it is clearly gaining weight from when these first hit the market. With a kayak you can move your hold position for best balance at the cockpit. That means, you are dragging this thing around, rudder dragging on the ground. The carbon handles on the sides are nice but even grabbing at the furthest aft point the boat still dips to the stern. First let me state that I believe you should be able to carry your kayak/surfski by yourself. Now for my two major issues with the boat. Seat is comfortable but I may add a lower back support.
#WAVES COMPLETE V8 REVIEW INSTALL#
I did install the stern rudder due to conditions where I paddle. They have replaced it with the typical granite looking plastic. Looks, it looks nice, but gone is the white plastic that looked like fiberglass. This boat is very stable and you can turn to look behind you without flipping over, or at least I can. Stability, I like to do the,(can I turn and look behind me test). It is easy to get on and off and that is a nice change. That said, it will not hang with the Nemo L, not even close. Comparing speed, I would say this might be the fastest plastic kayak/surfski out there or at least close to it. I have listed reviews of several kayaks I own or have owned on this site. Just finished my first paddle and have a few thoughts and one very annoying issue. We fitted them with back bands for comfort and some deck rigging to help with remounting and have learned to accept the only snag, the inevitable cold wet seat.įirst let me say that this is my first surfski. The robust hull allows us to deal with rocky shores.
We are still developing our skills on dealing with significant cross winds.
The ability to effortlessly cut through a head wind is very reassuring. I've gotten used to loading it on my car solo when I need to but a 5.2m boat needs a bit of space to manoeuvre on or off the water. Coming from SoTs to the V7s left us with a bit of a learning curve on the stability but, once we got used to them, we found that the speed and its effect on our range is wonderful.
We use them around the local bays, inshore and on some rivers in Ireland. Neither of us is young, fit, agile or adventurous so we are probably not the target audience for surfskis. We had spent a lot of years on Sit-On-Tops and a small bit in various Sea Kayaks. My brother and I got two V7s two years ago.
Once I remove the hardware this week it will go to the land fill or re-cycle center with about 100 paddles and 800 miles on it not a very good ROI. Should have just kept the Viking Javlin which I replaced with the V7. Possibly all this has been refined but I regret this purchase. it will be lighter, costs the same, last longer and can actually be repaired. I have an old V10S from 2006 and it remains near mint and now after 16 years needs to have upper deck re-fiber taped to the lower deck, expected from heavy chop and hull torsion. The concept is a good one as I loved this for rivers and creeks with hazards but since it is impossible to repair in structural areas buy an older composite ski where a few dings or dents are no matter and repairs with fiberglass, resin, and gel coat can easily be made.
#WAVES COMPLETE V8 REVIEW FULL#
The V7 is the newest of the plastic and is now full of stress cracks including ones discovered horizontal just forward and aft of the bailer now making is structurally unsafe to paddle. I have 7 kayaks, 5 skis, 1 sea kayak 1/2 PVC/thermal plastics and 1/2 composite all stored and cared for in the same manner. It's surface was pitted out of the container as were all the others as well as dented form shipping pressure points so I picked the best of the worst. I have a V7 from the 1st container to the states from 2014.
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