Force Category 3

I’ve had my my Force 3, oh....maybe ten years now. I’m not going to get into a lengthy review, but I just want to say that ten years later, I still love this boat. It is beautifully built, has great lines, glides through the water effortlessly, and is an absolute joy to use. Never once have I regretted this purchase, or wished I had another.

After three years paddling a P&H Vela--a lovely boat for someone who has about 30 pounds on me--I sold it and bought an Impex Force 3. I love this boat. The fit is amazingly comfortable and snug. It's fast (as it should be at 17') and the low volume makes for very little weathercocking. It's great in wind and waves, and a pleasure to roll, too.

My only complaints are small: 1. the back rim of the combing (behind the seat) is not flush with the slope of the cockpit, so when you lift the front of the boat to drain it, you can't get all the water out. 2. The bungees on the front deck are far enough away from the cockpit that the small paddlers who will love this boat may have trouble reaching any spare paddles stowed there. I am using my old, too-long paddle (a 210) as a spare, and it's really hard for me to reach even that! Small quibbles about a fantastic boat.

As for the Cat3, cockpit fittings were very good along those very lines. Yet it did not feel as down low and locked in as I liked. This came into play later in the demo.
Seat back feel and fit also good and not oversized. Comfortable right out of the box & kudos to Impex for that. Wanted a couple more inches behind seat back as I like to store a hydration pack & repair kit behind the seat which can otherwise be wasted cockpit space.
Hatch covers: these were the rounded rubber ones that lay on a raised and rounded neck above the decks. Visually this is unappealing and reminds me of the cheap looking & quirky Perception and Wilderness hatches. For some reason Impex made the rear hatch sphere overly wide, appearing to be slightly wider than the kayak deck. This interferes with the sleek look I prefer and may or may not inhibit aerodynamics. I leave that debate to the kayak design experts.
Having said that, the glass work was first rate and the bulkheads fitted neatly. Would've liked thicker deck rigging - these did not look 1/4", although in fairness they may have been.
On the water: large protected lake, 15 mph light steady wind. Some small chop esp through an area narrowed by two floating docks, giving me both flat water and little chop for the test.
Going into the wind I felt like I was sitting too high, bobbing in the boat, and thus not able to edge and turn as cleanly as I would've liked. The deck, being somewhat higher and rounded than my usual kayak, was impeding the progress of the kayak into the wind. Likely the two issues compounded each other.
A little skeg remedied this slightly, but should a kayak need skeg going into the wind? Paddling backwards the boat did creditably well. Paddling forwards it was moderately efficient. Although the sitting position felt good and I can paddle 6-7 hours a day, this did not feel like a boat I would paddle all day. I am aware of its length but I have actually had more refreshing paddles in longer boats (NDK Silhouette, for example)

It was, well, just okay. I'm pretty disappointed to say that.
Back onshore I covered most of these points with the Impex rep, who listened with friendly and creditable interest.
His response was that at my weight, the kayak would get optimum performance with 40 lbs of additional gear.
Huh. Regrettably for the Impex3, wouldn't add 40 lbs of gear (and/or body weight) just to have a good touring experience. Almost all of my paddling is day touring.
Too bad, really, as I entered this demo with high expectations given the company's excellent reputation for build quality and customer service.

Regrettably, the Impex Category 3 comes off my list of candidates for a next kayak.