Helios I Inflatable Kayak

I would not recommend this kayak to anyone. The inner material on my Helios that I used maybe a dozen times has started to get a bunch of pinhole leaks. Innova has not helped at all as to explain why this might be happening; let alone give me a refund. Plus the tracking is very bad and not worthy of a sea or lake kayak.

I have three Helios kayaks (two Helios I and one Helios II) that I bought over time since 2007. They have been great and my family and I have had a lot of fun with them. I have used them mostly on lakes in Ontario, Canada and also took them on a kayaking trip through Killarney Provincial Park in 2013.

They are a very high quality product, well made and very durable. They have lasted very well, are easy to inflate and deflate and can carry a good amount of equipment when traveling. I have found that the optional rudder is helpful in windy conditions.

Innova has further improved the build since I bought my original Helios I and the kayak is very durable and versatile. I do want to also add that, very importantly, after sales service from Innova has been excellent and I found that Tim at Innova Kayak really does believe in and stand by the product. I highly recommend these kayaks.

Although it is advertised the boat holds 3 psi the marking on the kayak state max 2 psi. When I filled with 2 psi it seemed not enough air but I figured that may be because the heat from the sun will cause the boat to expand. I live in Houston, Texas and it's normal where the temperature will reach 110 degrees all day and cool down to 95 degrees in the evening.

Set up is (as claimed) fast. It took me less than 15 minutes and that includes attaching the additional rudder I purchased. The rudder to me is necessary especially since I've owned inflatables before and when it gets windy, without the rudder there is less control of steering the boat straight. I will say with the rudder attached the boat steered straight on track and the nose did not move from left to right as I was paddling.

This boat is fast. I was able to paddle faster than several plastic kayaks that were 12' in length but I have to add that I use a Werner Kalliste paddles. From my experience, if anyone is using an inflatable kayak then using a good quality paddle is essential.

When I entered water that was a bit rough the kayak seem to change character in that the boat responded very well to rough water and that brought on a big smile on my face as the journey became more of an adventure than just a moderate kayak outing.

I did not give a higher rating because when I was in rough water I could feel the kayak bend in the center as I was moving over large waves. I had hoped that the 2 psi would be stiff enough to avoid that bend but not the case hence, my rating of 8.

This kayak is steady (I'm 5'8, 190lbs) I'm 63, work out everyday lifting weights and bicycle 40 miles every other day. Also another reason why I rated an 8 is because I have a size 10 foot and my toes were constantly touching the top of the kayak and after several hours this becomes quite uncomfortable. So, if you have a size 10 or larger keep this in mind before your purchase.

And after several hours of paddling I found my butt getting sore. You are actually sitting low inside the kayak on the air bed. I'm going to purchase a thin cell pad and hope that will rid the soreness.

I did receive many compliments from other folks kayaking and also allowed others to paddle my boat and everyone said hands down that the Helios I is a great boat to paddle and everyone also noted how secure they felt inside the boat. I believe, in my opinion, that this is a great boat and a great buy. I did purchase from the United Kingdom because it was $300 USD less than sold here in the USA. Innova is the USA distributor for Gumotex which is manufactured in Europe. And the Seller: Blue Water Sports had Fex-X the boat to me and I received it in two days, and the shipping was free!

All in all I believe anyone paddling this boat is in for great enjoyment and satisfaction.

I did notice several things that have led me to downgrade my opinion of the boat.
First, it scratches WAY more easily than any of my other boats. I've used it three times since it arrived here and it has more visible scuffing on the hull than my Safari or Solar II, both of which I've used extensively and in far rougher environments.
Secondly, it has a LOT of surface imperfections. Maybe the green shows them better than the red of the Safari and the blue of the Solar II, but there are many small creases and bumps visible on the underside of the fully inflated hull.

Perhaps most worrisome, the non-coated exposed grey fabric of the boat is starting to show slight discoloration in places, despite the fact that I am probably the most conscientious boat-cleaner there is. I wash my boats after every use and rinse and dry them thoroughly, leaving them inflated (at slightly lower pressure) so the drying can be more thorough. So this is an unpleasant surprise to me.

All around, this boat is still a great, fun boat to have, especially considering you get near-skeg like tracking without the hassle of having to put the skeg on; the speed of setup; and the stability and dry ride. But Innova loses points for jacking up the prices just as they "go cheap" on the models by removing the coating that used to cover all of their boats and leave some of the most sensitive parts of the boat open to discoloration and, quite likely, accelerated wear and tear. I'd gladly lug around two or three, or even five more pounds, to have a boat as bomb-proof as the Safari.