Expedition Kayak Review: Current Designs Infinity
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For example, if the kayak has ratchet straps, crank and loosen them. Kayaks fall into a variety of styles depending on their primary intended use. Buying the wrong style of kayak for your desired paddling experience will certainly spoil your time on the water.
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Another benefit of buying an established brand like Current Designs is the ability to source replacement parts. If you find a used Current Designs kayak that needs replacement parts, contact the company. They may have the part in stock or recommend compatible parts to use in the damaged ones’ place. Happily, the company’s website contains archived pages with descriptions of every Current Designs kayak ever made.
I purchased the Solstice GTXL…
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Derek Hutchinson tribute.
Posted: Thu, 05 Dec 2019 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The Solstice family of kayaks has long been the pride of the Current Designs Performance Touring Kayak fleet. The Solstice GT is the flag ship of our touring kayak fleet and the most popular composite kayak ever made. This updated classic delivers a predictable feel while slicing through the water.
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But these boats aren't any easier to roll in my estimation (I did try the Sorroco). Unless my Kevlar version is much lighter and more buoyant than the boat they tested which might explain their review. In any event, if you haven't already guessed it I LOVE MY SOLSTICE even more today than when I purchased it. This summer we have decided to reduce the number of kayaks in our garage.
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First, I bought this boat after enduring ten days in my Romany Explorer with gear loaded in front of the pegs. At 5’9 and 170 lbs the Explorer was simply too small to carry a bear canister, tarp bag and me in the same cockpit. We are touring kayakers who live and paddle in Southeast Alaska, taking at least three long(er) trips each summer of from 150 to 400 nautical miles.
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It has lots more room in the hatches & the Kajak hatch covers are easier to use than the VCP covers on the Chatham but don't know if they are as waterproof yet. Tracking is excellent, making the rudder unnecessary even with a tricky quartering tailwind. Which is just as well, given the challenges our testers had with CD’s SmartTrack foot braces.
It doesn't have a back deck low enough for easy layback rolling, but the trade-off again is a seat with good lumbar back support and lots of storage in the rear compartment. The hull doesn't have much rocker, so it's a little slow in turns as compared to a Brit boat, but it effortlessly tracks straight, all day long for long distances. The GT is not a play boat for surf kayakers or fast water, but it does extremely well what it was designed for. The North American kayaks are the Libra XT, Nomad GTS, Solstice, Squall and Storm models. They have more depth and width than the British and Greenland boats, which improves storage capacity and the larger cockpits are easier for large paddlers to enter and exit. The North American boats are recommended for new and developing paddlers as they’re more forgiving on the water, and easier to become accustomed to.
Current Designs offers a full line of lightweight composite kayaks, as well as ultra-durable rotomolded plastic designs. All these items can be replaced at a reasonable cost and with modest DIY skills, but they may offer a discerning buyer the opportunity to haggle on price. The upswept bow and fish form allow this small kayak to handle rough conditions with ease, while remaining nimble on flat water. The Breeze fits a broad size range of paddlers, is very stable and extremely user friendly.
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It has tons of leg room and is available in Standard and Low volume options. The British style kayaks are the Cypress, Gulfstream, Infinity, Sirocco, Squamish and Willow. The British style boats are sort of a middle ground between the North American and Greenland styles, as they are slighting wider and deeper than the Greenland kayaks, and have a higher foredeck. They also have a medium sized cockpit that can accomodate larger paddlers, and more leg room and storage as well.
The cockpit interior glass is smooth in most any spot I could feel and see and all bolts are cut off at the nut so no protruding sharp screws. In short, the boat, for me, became boring to paddle.For many paddlers, this will be a great boat; for me, it no longer works. Current Designs has turned out one fine kayak with the Solstice GT and truly, this will probably be the very last kayak I'll ever own to the end of my kayaking days. The first Current Design production boats were West-coast cruisers – the Equinox and Pisces. The Solstice line went into production in 1984, and was extremely successful, and is still Current Designs flagship kayak line to this day.
Within hours of buying it I was 8 miles out on the open ocean just sitting back floating on 2-3 foot swells and no instability issues at all... I did a few more similar such trips in various conditions from fair to what might scare some rec boaters, but this boat handled anything that I could and no scary moments at all. Color is more than just an aesthetic concern when buying a used kayak on Craigslist. Faded color on the hull or deck is a good indicator that the kayak was stored outside for extended periods of time. Short-term outdoor storage is fine, but, over the long haul, UV radiation will compromise the strength of fiberglass kayaks and make the hull of a plastic kayak softer and less efficient to paddle. It’s also a hint that the kayak could have been abused in other ways, too.
There is an optional seat available for really big, wide people, but the standard seat is fine for ordinarily large paddlers. The seat design allows for storage space in the cockpit on both sides of the seat, as well as under the seat and behind the seat. This storage space is a critical factor for me because the Solstice GT does not have a day hatch. The around-the-seat storage spaces retain their contents during a capsize and wet exit, so you don't lose cockpit gear when inverted. The GT is a symmetrical design, widest at the hip, which accounts for the ample storage space around the seat. Aside from the predictable handling, the cockpit storage space surrounding the seat is the most important selling point for me.
The weight difference is significant, especially if you habitually carry safety gear in the cockpit, paddle alone, or have to carry or drag the boat over long beaches at low tide. My Kevlar boat was accidentally dropped 10 feet, rudder first, from a high dock onto the steel deck of an albacore tuna boat last year. The fiberglass cracked upon impact and it cost $750 (U.S.) to repair the fiberglass, however the hull remained watertight, and the boat would have been paddleable afterwards thanks to the Kevlar.
The two-lid system in the Squall GTS does more than look good. The rubber hatch provides a more watertight seal than earlier models’ neoprene covers, while a polyethylene lid protects against UV damage. The Karla amps it up again, with an even more aggressive rocker profile than the Sisu, as well as a slightly shorter and narrower hull.
I rate primary stability as very good and secondary stability as excellent. Current Designs doesn’t have any whitewater boats in their current lineup. Instead the company focuses on manufacturing a full line of quality touring, recreational, and transitional kayaks. Prices start at about $1200 for the rotomolded polyethylene Squamish British touring boat, and go all the way up to $4600 for the the kevlar version of the Libra XT North American touring kayak.
We’ve also included some buying advice for used Current Designs kayaks and answers to common questions. In general—that is, before Covid-19 put a premium on outdoor equipment—the typical starting point for a used Craigslist kayak in moderate condition was about half its retail price. All that’s changed in the wake of boat shortages brought on by the pandemic, but you can use it as a starting point in haggling for a price. There is a difference between a well-used boat, and an abused boat. Broken items are a giveaway that a kayak didn’t receive proper treatment.
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