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Today we had a beautiful evening: clear skies and no wind. Perfect conditions to try how fast I can go with the 16X.
As it is Wednesday I choose the kayak-club as destination: 18 km vv.
The first 9 km I averaged 10 km/h. In the 16X this is a fitness-level-pace as I started sweating and realised I worked hard. To feel the difference I slowed down till 9km/h shortly: that was a world of a difference because it felt as if you could maintain that for hours. A very relaxed pace.
Halfway after 5 km I also made two sprints to try what maximum speed I could reach: 12,5 km/h. Honestly I did expect to go faster than that, but the short length of this kayak (under 5 meter) might be a restriction for the maximum speed. Later I will try the sprint again, being fresh myself, to take a look how much faster I can push the kayak.
After a pause of 45minutes I went back home and did promise myself to paddle not faster than 9km/h. However while paddling this became a variation between 9 - 9,5 km/h; feeling as a comfortable speed.
I must confess that I did have to work harder over the last 2 km’s to maintain at least the 9km/h; probably you can become a bit tired after paddling a distance of 19km. 
So what can we conclude: The 16X is a fast seakayak which you can paddle at 9km/h. If you want to go faster you have to work much harder meaning that the maximum hull-speed of this kayak is somewhere near 10-11 km/h. But still: for such a short length of 4,88m, this kayak is remarkably fast.
And what is nice, is that this kayak is not only within reach of experienced paddlers because the stability is very forgiving, meaning that also less experienced paddlers can paddle the 16X. Of course this is a subject for further investigation because I have to paddle the 16x at sea first before I can give a more definite statement about this.
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As described in the posts about the Fjord before, she is a high volume kayak.
In theory she is too big for me but thanks to her small oceancockpit en the extra padding I applied in the cockpit I can handle her very well.
During the summers of 2009 and 2010 I went, together with Tiny, to Norway for holiday. For us this is quite a standard destination. But what was new this time is that we made a self supported 2-weekly trip along the Norwegian coast with 2 seakayaks.
During the preparations for the first trip I had been thinking for some time about which kayak to take with me. Finally I choose the Fjord for a few reasons, First of course her volume. Second was the fact this kayak has been built very strong which looked like an advantage for the rocky coast. Third was her stability which I thought important for easy photographing and for eventual assisting of Tiny who is less experienced at sea.
Well I did not regret this choice for 1 second. Aa..h yes, only sometimes when we had to haul her out of the water. Then she is very, very heavy thanks to the load plus her own weight.
But further she performed very well.
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After today's activities there were a few hours left. Because the wind was blowing at a 5-6Bft force from SW, this was an ideal opportunity to paddle with the 16X and the midwing to the lake "Alkmaardermeer" and play in the waves.
To reach the lake I had to paddle approx. 6km over de Zaan (a river) and some canals where I could also measure the speed I reached.
With the current wind-strength this gives not an accurate measurement but it gives a good indication. Against the wind I measured, paddling at a fitness -pace, 8 km/h. Whereas in the few sheltered sections on the way to my lake I easily reached 9-10km/h. So for the time being I write that cruising at 9(-10)km, in flatwater-conditions with minor wind, should be possible; with good technique and enough trunk-rotation. Later I will check the full-sprint.
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As I picked up the 16X yesterday I was very eager to learn more about her. So for a first impression I made a small tour, together with Tiny, in "my backyard": the "Wormer- and Jisperveld'.
Tiny accompanied me in her fast flatwater touring-kayak. That brings me immediately to the subject "speed". Normally a slender touring kayak is much faster then a seakayak. But paddling the 16X in the shallow waters next to Tiny I did not have any indication that I had to work hard to keep up with her. The speed of both kayaks seemed quite equal .
Of course this is quite an subjective impression. But later I will investigate speed better. Anyway: the X16 feels fast and accelerates quickly.
While sprinting at maximal speed it feels if the X16 could accelerate for ever. For me it was impossible to reach the maximal hull-speed.
After getting into the cockpit the kayak felt very stable from the beginning; both the primary- and the secondary stability are good. It felt like a rock in these calm waters.
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Today I went to kanosport.nl-shop to pickup a test-kayak. Eric offered me the use of one of his demo-kayaks for testing. By mail he proposed to the Epic 16X or 18X. So there was a choice to make and the evening before I was busy thinking about the two kayaks.
Difficult choice because both are interesting kayaks.
After Googling a bit it seemed to me that the 16X was a good choice to start testing with, because she is more manoeuvrable and thus probably usable under more different conditions and by more paddlers of different levels. Another practical reason seemed that a 18X is almost 6 meter long and does not fit very well on the roof of a VW-polo.
On the other hand; paddling a very fast kayak like the 18X is a joy to my hart: I love it to split the water at high speed. And another reason for the 18X is that Freya rounded Australia with that kayak, so it must be a very capable kayak-design; just as capable as Freya herself.
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Vorig jaar was onze eerste trektocht langs de Noors kust ons goed bevallen. Hadden we vorig jaar een veel minder beschutte kust; dit jaar kozen we voor de oostkust van Noorwegen. Wel meer bewoond maar ook mooi. Begin augustus was het nog net geen vakantieperiode zodat het in onze eerste weken niet heel erg druk op het water was. Later zag je vooral veel bootjes.
We hadden wel heel mooi weer waardoor we veel harder opschoten en we ook vaker op de open zee konden blijven. Later trok de wind wat aan, maar achter de eilanden was het goed te doen op een enkele oversteek van een baai na.
KLIK hier om verder te lezen en de grotere kaart te bekijken
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Wednesday-evening a week ago the wind was blowing NE at 5-6BFT: a perfect condition to try the paddle on my weekly 19km-trip tot the kayak-club.
Nice about this trip is that I have the wind from all directions on the different stretches.
So let me summarise my trip
1. Getting used to
Probably that has something to do with my own kinetik wing because I noticed that I was paddling the Greenland paddle in the same way. Of course with the tilting of the blade while pulling.
It was also interesting to notice that I did not have to think one second about NOT turning the paddle-shaft: All my paddling life I used a right-twisted shaft and you could expect that this deeply anchored habit is difficult to change. But no: It all felt very natural.
When paddling in wind coming from aside you develop over the years the habit of leaning into the wind when you feel a sudden gust of wind.
This evening there were certainly gust of winds and after a few gust a realised It was not necessary to lean into the wind anymore as the wind did not have any grip on the pushed blade in the air.
This felt very safe indeed because very strong gusts can capsize even an experienced paddle in a second of unawareness.
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Some time ago Ed wrote on my weblog the question: "What's going on, why no new tests on your website?"
I mailed back that I was just starting up again after the winter-period. May-be a weak excuse because I could also write in winter time: reviews about f.i. AnasAcuta and Nordkapp as I have these kayaks in my fleet.
Anyhow, after exchanging some mails Ed asked if I was interested in testing a Greenland paddle; he made 3 paddles himself and offered one of those for testing
Ed
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Last Saturday I planned to test the Xplore (Tiderace).
I could borrow Wiegers' and planned to use it on a crossing of the IJsselmeer from Stavoren to Andijk vv.
A distance of about 2x15 km .
Thx Wieger.
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After my experiences with the Cetus in the second half of 2009, it's about time now to describe some technical details about her before finishing my testperiod with the Cetus.
The hull
The Cetus has a rather rounded underwatership with flat midsection and a sharp bow. Furthermore the hull is given a swedeform shape which helps making it a fast kayak.
Deck layout
