Ultimate 14.5 Tandem

After reading positive reviews about this kayak I purchased it online from a reputable dealer.
It's an impressive looking hybrid with some comfortable seats in the tandem mode but not in solo mode,that's where the problem lies.
It's advertised to be tandem to be easily converted to a solo in less than 5 minutes however they changed the design for the 2017 model and with no user manual and no videos you are basically on your own. With the seat changed to the solo position there is nothing to hold the seat in place except some straps which do nothing, sliding back and forth in any boat is dangerous.Customer support is non existent,no phone number,no email address, you have to contact the dealer while they deal with live customers at their store.To me this is a serious design flaw that the dealer can not correct.

I have been paddling for several years and previously owned an Old Town Vapor 12, Wilderness Systems Commander 120 and a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160. I have also paddled a few other kayaks and have a lot of canoe experience. I think that the Ultimate fits my needs better than any other kayak.

I had the commander before moving to Florida and sold it to buy the tarpon. I wanted a longer boat that I could take out in the gulf. It's a great kayak as well and I would highly recommend it. The commander was good too, but wasn't as versatile for Florida. I am moving back to Missouri in a month and decided to go back to a hybrid style. As a photographer and fisherman, it's hard to beat this style in my opinion.

The ultimate 14.5 makes a great tandem with a child or small adult. The seats are amongst the best out there and it is easy to move from tandem to solo. The foam blocks you use for tandem mode aren't elegant, but they get the job done. The new model has a much better system. That being said, the new model is significantly heavier. As a car top kayaker, I wouldn't want the extra weight. I also like to kayak rivers and portaging the 14.5 isn't bad at all.

As far as the paddling goes, the ultimate paddles good for what it is. It's relatively fast and tracks straight while paddling. It has a small amount of glide but after a few feet it will drift off to the side. My commander that I owned previously tracked much better but was terrible to turn. The ultimate turns well for a wide kayak, so I prefer the ultimate now that I'm an experienced paddler. The ultimate also drifts in the wind a little bit, so a rudder would be beneficial in open bays or large lakes.

There are a lot of accessories, but some of them are discontinued for the older ultimates. I think they are overpriced, but I find most things to be overpriced so take that for what it's worth. The kayak seems tough and is a good compromise between weight and solid build. I would recommend this kayak for photography. You might try the commander as well to see which boat "fits." I plan to use mine for a lot of years to come.

Still all in all a great boat for solo or tandem. Great for recreation and fishing. Decent storage for camping also.

Advantages:
• It's light, I can easily carry it by myself from the shed in my back yard to my truck in the front driveway. I don't actually use the Native Watercraft cart I bought. For reference, I'm 54 years old, 5'8", 165 lbs. Very easy to load into the bed of my truck.
• It's stable.
• It glides through the water very nicely.
• The rudder is an excellent feature. I've paddled with and without the rudder deployed in conditions with no wind, into a 10 mph wind, and 90 degrees to the 10 mph wind. The rudder is better in all situations.
• The camo color is just cool looking.

  Disadvantages:

• It's not really made for two adults, it's really for solo use or with an adult and a small person. It's okay for two adults with glassy calm water. If you want a true tandem, get the Native Ultimate 16 or a canoe.
• I definitely wanted a sit-inside rather than a sit-on-top kayak, but do note that sit-on-tops have more space and functionality regarding storage options, ease of ability for adding things like depth finders, rod storage, etc.

The main problem we had with the first one is terrible tracking. Like a previous post our boat also tracked hard in one direction. With two paddlers pulling hard 6 times on the same side we could keep it straight. One pull on the other side and we were drifting hard offline. Once it started off line it was nearly impossible to get it back. Basically we would serpenting across the lake. We returned the boat to our local dealer with no problem and the new boat works great. Obvious defect in the twin hull.

So to the person who posted with this similar problem. Go back to your dealer and demand a return. If they don't believe you, let them paddle it for themselves. My dealer had no problem exchanging it for us. Why would they or the manufacturer want an unhappy customer. There isn't many problems worse than bad tracking. A leaky boat comes to mind but the tracking problem will ruin your day on the water and for a beginner will either send them for lessons or dry land forever.

It's not a bad fishing boat in quiet water, like small lakes, protected bays, or streams. Like others have noted, the sides flex easily, both in the plastic and the composite models, and most of the accessories they offer that attach to it are cheap plastic gadgets.

Tracking is good, it's relatively easy to stand in, and the composite model is plenty light enough to carry for short distances. However, if it's a canoe you want I'd recommend a conventional canoe over an Ultimate. If it's a kayak you want, I'd prefer to be in a conventional sit-on-top kayak.

I love fishing from a kayak mainly because you can catch more and bigger fish. I know it sound crazy but it is actually true. I use to fish B.A.S.S. tournament for a living in the 1980's and won 4 tournaments and placed 2nd 12 times. I have also competed in some professional musky tournaments and done quite well. I have learned more about fish and fishing from fishing from a kayak than the other 45 years combined. Fishing from a kayak makes you fish all of the water around you. If you are not catching anything you can't just fireup the motor and fly across the lake to the next spot. It forces you to fish everything and you would be surprised at what you'll find. I have found that really big muskies are generally not in the deep water. In 2010 I boated 89 muskies total. 42 muskies were 40" or more and 5 were 50" or more. I would say that if I were still fishing out of a regular boat I would have only caught 20% of those muskies. The reason is simple with a kayak you can get to water that regular boats can't. I take my kayak up into small stream and deep lily pads where no boat could ever go and I catch tons of fish. Fishing from a Native Ultimate kayak is the best investment you can make!

Pros: great for fishing and very stable. Only con so far is one of my footrests will not lock but fixed myself in a few minutes. FYI - Buy the paddle holder that sits on top of the kayak and not the one that clips on as they fall off and are more expensive. Get a milk crate and tie in some 2" pieces of pvc in each corner for rod holders. I can carry 5 rods easily on lakes but do not suggest for rivers stick with a pole or two. Instead of the fancy anchors that get stuck and lost. I drag a 3-4 foot length of chain off the back of the canoe wrapped in duct tape to avoid the noise of the chain. The great thing about this is you do not have to pull it up every time and you can still move the Kayak and make your casts, great on lake too in the wind. The cheap man's way.

I tested many yaks before buying, most were to small, to wet, or would not turn. The Native is very comfortable, stable, and sturdy. Have caught well over 100 fish in it so far and counting. Only complaint is the paddle holders that snap on the sides fell off. I have had no problems w/ the foot rests, they lock very well for me. No problem with flexy here.

I really love this kayak; it is my first, however, so I cannot compare it to much (unless a comparison to the 16 foot aluminum canoe we used when I was a kid is fair!) I can hoist it myself onto the top of my SUV, and it is very comfortable, so much so that I imagine I will need to remember to sit up to improve my paddling form. I agree with reviews elsewhere that the molded cupholders and trays are really un-useable, they even collect water from the paddle after you're on the water a while.

I plan to use this at the GA coast and the FL panhandle as well, so I imagine that the bow skirt would be a good addition. Based upon the amount of flotation foam in the bow and stern, it seems that if it were completely swamped that you would have no way to pump it out or otherwise empty it unless you had someone along with you in another boat (I have not tested this, however).

For the paddling I plan (lakes, river floats, coastal "backcountry") it is perfect. I haven't tried to stand yet, since I have always had a little one along in the front seat. I am very happy with my choice at this point; I can't see that changing.

PS: the previous reviewer is correct... the straps make an un-Godly roaring sound so we will try the criss-cross method to see if the noise is abated.

Pros:
reasonably quick (especially with two strong paddlers), extremely stable, maneuverability is great, the seats are very comfortable and can be removed for transport or reconfigure solo/tandem

Cons:
freeboard is minimal, capacity is relatively low, during transport on the roof rack the hull shape makes the straps roar in the wind (criss-cross them to reduce this), the foot rests need to be tightened with a phillips head screw driver or else they slip (no longer truly adjustable).