Today the Dutch kayak Association (NKB) organized a trip to Borkum; starting at Eemshaven. This seemed an ideal occasion to paddle the 16X;expecting bigger waves than I encountered until now.
However the weather-forecast wasn't too good with only a small weather-window in the afternoon. When looking out at sea this morning at 8.30h we all had the feeling that this trip was not a good idea with the SE-wind already blowing at 5-6bft and not being sure when OR if the wind-force was going down. Local marifoon forecasts did not mention any decrease.
Thinking about an alternative tour, another island in an less exposed area, seemed a lovely idea but timing was difficult as we had to travel by car again risking too low tides. This could be worse than the normal tides because the easterly wind was lowering the waterlevel in the waddenzee.
So after some discussion we chose for the Lauwersmeer nearby.
As this lake is a bit inland the wind was much lower in force: I estimated only 4 bft. What a pity for my waves ;-)
Starting with the wind and waves coming from behind the 16X had a tendency for wandering of course in these short waves. This time however I could easily correct this with the rudder although I had to stay very alert to act immediately as she started to wander away. Paddling next to other kayaks it was very clear when I acted too slow in this.
It depends also so on how you paddle this kayak:
a) Paddling with your knees locked under the deck, thus being able to edge the kayak very effectively.
b) Paddling with your knees in the middle of the cockpit; making a very efficient paddlestroke possible.
Ad. a) While seated like this you wil find it very easy and natural to steer with the rudder. Although some slight course-corrections, without the rudder, done by edging are just as easy.
Ad. b) In today's waves I was not needing the extra knee-support for balance. But when you want to steer with the rudder from this position of legs and knees this felt quite unnatural and forced. After some time my knee and ankle-joints started protesting a bit. And also steering was not as accurate as described under a)
Actually I get the impression that this kayak is designed to paddle without knee-support; for the most effective paddlestrokes.
Of course you can paddle the 16X with knee-support. I expect the new ruddersystem to be very helpful as you will be able to lock the rudder amidships for effective steering by edging; like we do with rudderless kayaks.
Today our trip covered several directions relative to the SE-wind direction :
- Heading at an angle against the wind, the kayak was very easy to paddle with no need to steer with the rudder. A bit of edging was just enough.
- Wind from the left. The kayak paddled just a neutral course without any need for correction. I could not discover any tendency for weather- or leecocking. You must remember however that the wind was only blowing at 4 bft. and that more wind and/or waves can change this. Something for me to investigate later.
- Wind angled from behind. As described above the 16X wanders easily away and needs the rudder. When you don't use the rudder you have to paddle very concentrated and technically to keep course.
When at a certain moment a sailingboat outran us I sprinted behind her to surf her (small) wake. I reached the boat in a minute while paddling fast and she surfs well on the wake. It was also very easy to steer on the wake from left to right. The rudder was very effective in this.
May be this is an indication that this kayak handles and surfs well in bigger waves than the ones until now. But again, this is some to investigate later in other sessions at other places.
While paddling an discussing with my paddling-mates I found it interesting that the first thing I was asked for was why I did not test the 18X because that was a much faster kayak and this more fun to paddle.
I answered that I such a long kayak fits badly on the roof of my small VW-Polo. I described this also in the first post about this kayak. Although kayakshop.nl also has some preference for a test to be done on the 16X, I have a more fundamental (or personal) reason.
Apart from that I like it to split the water with a fast kayak, I keep my distance concerning long kayaks. Looking for all-round kayaks that perform well, easy and safe under all circumstances I think that most long kayaks have a disadvantage (not suggesting now that this the matter with the 18X) because they are designed for speed and compromise at maneuverability. Most long kayaks have a long waterline aft creating a kind of integral skeg that digs itself in the water when the bow is lifted by a wave, allowing the wind to blow the bow aside using the stern as pivot point. If you are paddling in strong winds it can be (too) hard labor to keep course under such conditions. (the same disadvantage will be found in old kayak-designs featuring an integral skeg resulting in that most Nordkapp HM owners partially removed the skeg).
I can imagine however that a good rudder-construction can help you out of this shit; unless the waves are high enough to lift the stern (and thus the rudder) out of the water when passing a wave: than there will be moments that your stern can be blown away.
Again these are reflections, not meant to say anything already about the Epic kayaks but they illustrate that the more kayak-types I paddled, the more my personal preferences go to shorter, maneuverable kayaks. Some years ago I wrote an article about this. If you want to read it: please click here
And speed? Yes that can be important. In races! And sometimes in conditions to get the tide in time. (But to my opinion that should be an issue in making a safe planning).
On the other hand: when wanting a fast kayak you also need paddling-mates in fast kayaks, otherwise you will get bored or your mates frustrated or you will get lost.
Another interesting issue is: does the 18X perform similar to the 16X or not. Thinking about the broaching and wandering off, Sido was musing that, when you transfer a long kayak-design into a shorter version, some characteristics could possibly change. I think he is right and that may be a good reason to paddle the 18x, once ready with the 16X.
Note:
afterwards I found only a minor quantity of water in the aft compartment. But it wasn't as bone-dry as the front compartment. May be I am going to stop the gaps to be sure where this water comes from.