Ok, I finally got a chance to paddle this bad boy today. It was fast and it was reluctant to turn. I got up to 5.4 mph every time after about five strokes. It accelerated fast and maintained its glide unbelievably even if I skipped a stroke. I haven't paddled much in 12 years so I'm going to put more practice in on it and maybe tuffen up my man boobs.
Turning there was some resistance. I had to lift one butt cheek or drag the blade to turn quickly.
Standing... it was as stable as my Pro Angler and easier to get back in the seat. I felt with practice I could paddle all day with a single blade stand-up paddle. This may prove to be this yaks most unique attribute.
I sat side-saddle and pushed it as hard as I could the photographer said I got one pontoon clear of the water without going over.
I did weigh it as it carries a lot lighter then 48 pounds but the scale read 48 right on the money. No help needed to lift this thing by yourself on to a high SUV.
It paddled into the wind which was about 15 knots with no loss of speed or glide. I think the concave tunnel might actually create lift. Noticed very little disturbance or wake coming off the bow.
I'm 200 pounds and the yak drew more water then I was expecting; about six inches. Footbraces felt rock solid with no flex at all no matter hard I tried. Hardware looks to be all stainless.
The paddle lash was also rock solid I could barely move it once locked in.
Overall the only yak in its class I can compare it to are the Hurricanes I used to sell. It tracked much better and the stability isn't even comparable. With practice, I think I can polka on the catfish. I never GPS'ed a Hurricane so I cant compare speed but 5.4 MPH without paddling the last decade surprised me. I used a 240cm full carbon Werner.
P.S. Delts has just come out with a rudder system for the Catfish which should deal with my only complaint about how the Catamaran turns. With the rudder system I'm sure it would get a 10.
