SS@G Northwind

[txriverrat]

This boat has turned out well for me , and like I said at the beginning of this build it was taken from a boat designed and Paddled by Verlan Kruger. I preforms well.
I dont really know what to call this boat , a kayak , decked canoe, I guess it is a hybrid of both.I build boats because they are lighter ,I can customize them to my desired uses, and most of the time they paddle a lot more efficently than the plastic boats.
I dont knock the plastic boats ,they got a lot of folks involved in yaking and paddling,so I guess that is good. There is a lot of hype ,bs, about designs and some just flat out lies about there performance from folks chasing the dollar.
Thanks for the thumbs up
Ron

[txriverrat]

I am doing this a little different than most boat reviews. I decided I was going to put some miles on the North Wind and paddle in as many different environments as possible before I wrote this up,so here we go.
This boat is 17 ft 2 inches long bye 28 ½ wide finished weight was 54 lbs ,not a little boat by any stretch of the imagination



When I built the deck I set it up for a 58 qt cooler ad the capability to carry 8 rods all that worked out well
And the places for the rod holders are also used when I just pull up and want to bank fish or troll.



She has been slimed


Been paddled tandem



Loaded heavy



Stability is awesome ,my seat is 11 1;2 inches high and I never feel tippy.
Paddling speed is awesome ,if your paddling beside most yaks you have to back off a lot because just paddling at a normal cadence you will walk off and leave them.
Comfort and weight carry capabilities are great ,as you add weight she just doesn’t notice it at all and the 7 ft cockpit is easy in and out, two 5 ft enclosed decks carry a lot of gear. A note here she does like to be loaded tail heavy.
This last weekend we paddled 14 miles loaded 7 up and 7 downriver,shallows ,deep holes , going through blow downs with a lot of current .she just handles it all in stride , the hull is slick enough to paddle upriver better than any boat I own.
I have to rate this boat head and shoulders above any boat I have ever paddled . I guess that says it all.
Ron

[cthippo]

Awesome TX, nice work!

I would call it a kayak since it's designed to be paddled from the middle rather than the ends, but that's just my working definition.

A 'yak without a cockpit ring still seems horribly, horribly wrong, but I'm slowly getting acclimated to the iead from yours and LPs work.