Elaho

The Elaho is my favorite plastic sea kayak. It is fast, predictable and stable. It makes a great second boat if you move on to a lighter racing boat as your skill develops. The only negative is the weight. I would recommend it to friends. If buying a used one be aware that hatch covers are in good shape and are expensive.

Wanted to post this while it was all still fresh in my mind. My wife and I are just coming out of Rec boats. I just purchased a 2006 Necky Elaho that had been well taken care of. At 22" across the beam it is definitely the narrowest kayak I have paddled. When we took our kayaking lessons last summer I was in a 14' Wilderness Systems Tsunami. Found it to be not much less stable than the Rec boats we had purchased. Picked up the Elaho one week ago and today was the first time on the water with it.

Wind was high and water was rough on the lake, not the kind of conditions I was hoping for to undertake my first outing with the Elaho and frankly I was a little apprehensive. My wife was in her Jackson Ibis and launched without issue.

Coming out of the 29 inch Ibis I found the Elaho a little tippy trying to get in and get it launched, but managed to get it done and keep the dry side up.

Turned it into the wind and discovered a whole new world of kayaking. After a few minutes of paddling I looked around to discover my wife, who has paddled that ibis in some pretty stormy conditions, to be struggling with the quartering wind. Never deployed the rudder until my wife reminded me to try it out. Didn't like the fact it made the boat hard to turn.

Like many folks on this site have stated before after a few minutes I didn't think about the stability issue any further. It was interesting to learn to trust the secondary stability and not over react. After a little while I was liking for rougher water. As I don't have anything to compare it to I still have to say I can't believe how much faster it is than our Rec boats.

After the paddle I discovered a leaky day hatch but discovered it was the bulkhead behind the cockpit. This was also my first experience with a spray skirt. This one must have been left over from the Carter administration. It was in decent shape but the seam at the waist leaked like a screen door and hi could feel it running down my sides. At least the water wasn't too cold.

At 190 I thought the kayak felt a tad unsteady at first, but after two trips I was very comfortable in it - it turns decent for the length if you edge it, and I think it's pretty fast, if I really dig in, I can go about 6mph a slow moving river.

Me- advanced beginner level,6'1'' 180. Kayak-Necky Elaho Rudder(must be a 03-04 model) I bought brand new for a nicely discounter price.

The Good: Very versatile-it'll carry a week's worth of stuff easy if you pack relatively light. Speed(not loaded) I do just over 4 mph average touring pace,top speed sprint i managed about 7 mph, maintainable fast pace(for a mile or so) about 5 mph. Unloaded it is very manouverable, loaded still manouvers decent, without using a rudder. Edges nice,very solid when leaned over. Strong secondary stability, in flat water i can put cockpit rim ~3-4 inches under water and still feel in control Handles chop good. I had it in ~1.5-2 ft steady chop with 3 footers mixed in and boat wakes up to 5-6 ft. Stays stable and bow will NOT pearl. Rolls easy. Hatches stay bone dry.

The bad: #1 it weathercocks significantly in quartering seas,though most kayaks do. #2 Quality is questionable-In first couple paddles, all the tethers came untied, neoprene hatch cover split a seam, factory forgot to put nuts on half the rudder mount bolts. The minicell foam glued to the underside of the seat was a bit too much, pushing the hull out a bit and the seat mounting nuts really chewed into the seat plastic.

My modifications to the boat: Got rid of the stock rock hard backband and replaced with a Prijon whitewater backband i picked up at a gear swap. Adressed the seat mounting and foam issues. Installed Seaward gas pedal rudder controls-solid footing is a night and day difference but i had to cut a good chunk out of the pedals to fit, all n all great footing but very mediocre rudder action-tradeoff i was willing to do. And outfitted cockpit with some foam.

All n all-it is good. By no means perfect so it gets 8/10. If i had the money i'd seriously look at the Seaward Cosma, or the fiberglass Elaho, maybe Prijon SeaYak.

In writing this review I hope to clear up some of the confusion about the two different Elaho boats that have been reviewed here, as well as their attributes and deficiencies.

I was first drawn to the Elaho DS (drop skeg) a 15’ 9” long Poly boat as an alternative to destroying my “glass” Greenland style boat on the limestone littered rivers here in Florida. (Unlike the smooth texture of rock found in northern rivers, the limestone here erodes in a fashion that leaves the texture of a cheese grater, which will cut through gel coat and glass fibers in one swift sickening crunch.) Both my wife, (5’5” 135 lb.), and myself, (5’-10” 165 lb.), are fairly small, and finding longer boats with a small / shallow cockpit was also a concern.

The first Poly boat acquired in 2003 was what was then called the Elaho Rudder at 16’ 4” long. This boat gave the secondary stability I had become accustomed to with the Greenland style boats, was long enough for a good turn of speed, and tracked well without ever deploying the rudder. However the “spongy” foot controls were most distracting for me, having never had a boat with a rudder. My wife on the other hand, was used to ruddered craft and loved the boat. (So I lost that one to her.)

The next boat acquired in 2004 was one of the last of the Poly Elaho DS models. This boat has noticeably more rocker, is slightly narrower, solid foot braces, and the same excellent secondary stability. The increased rocker required judicious amounts of the skeg to be used for flat-water travel, but was quite maneuverable when retracted. Quartering winds require a little more skeg. But this is where trick is. If you allow the skeg to hang too low it conspires with the now empty skeg box to become a sea anchor. Marking the skeg cord prevents inadvertently lowering it too far and watching your paddling partners disappearing into the distance.

Never satisfied, I have now picked up what is now just called the Elaho, 16’ 4” long in Poly with the rudder, (The DS model is no longer made.), with the intention of installing the Seal Line Smart Track rudder controls. At first glance it looks like Necky had “cheapened” the boat up some from its original form, but most of the changes seem to be for the better. The seat is no longer the air adjustable model, (Which always leaked down on longer runs.), but a comfortably contoured foam seat with adjustable hip pads and thigh braces, which are a nice addition. The back band is now ratchet adjustable with two rather bulky levers and the back shock cords are attached through the cockpit top lip. The ratchets work ok for now, and the new higher cockpit mounting does prevent the back band from sliding down. However laying back is somewhat encumbered. The only disappointment is that the first boat had nicely made ABS bulkheads surrounded by a foam ring, (To allow for the dimensional changes of a Poly boat.), while the newer ones have minicell foam bulkheads surrounded by the same style of foam ring.

So buyers beware! There are two very different boats out there.

I had a chance to paddle a large number of different composite kayaks recently over several days at the Southwest Kayak Symposium. One of those that really stood out was the Necky Elaho. While I prefer faster, narrower and longer kayaks with greater speed, I was very impressed with the Elaho. It is much better than the Looksha IV series and a truly great all around kayak for it length. I think both a beginner and an advanced paddler could easily enjoy the Elaho. It has good stability, speed and maneuverability. It tracks well and feels very solid. It also has a decent turn of speed when paddled harder. It is comfortable. It is a real stand out and a fine kayak. The kayak that comes to mind for comparison is the KajakSport Viking. If I were buying a kayak in this length, I would have to think hard to say which I liked better, but I think the Viking is faster by a bit. Both are terrific kayaks.

Purchased the Rotomolded Vinyl Necky Elaho in July of 2002. Have been paddling Vinyl Kayaks for four years, first the Necky Gannet later the Pereption Captiva. Principally paddle in Hudson River, but have also some ocean and surf experience. I am a larger paddler, 6' tall, and 190lbs.

When buying the Elaho I compared it to the Necky Looksha and the Looksha Sport, both great straight tracking boats. The Elaho is a very sleek looking boat, and with its graceful lines and pronounced bow and stern rocker begins to approach the look and feel of a fiberglass boat.

The Elaho is a very playful boat, turns readily, leans well, sits low in the water and feels slightly tipsy at first. It is harder to paddle straight than more traditional Sea Kayaks such as the Looksha, but the retractable skeg compensates for this.

The guide who sold me this boat described it as a "surf zone" boat which is a very good description. The Elaho with Fore and Aft hatches plus a day hatch is capable of holding a fair amount of gear. Due to the thickness of the vinyl needed to support its complex shape it is somewhat heavy, weighing in at over 60 lbs. The only negative I see is the drop skeg sometimes sticks and its easy turning ability demands more paddling skill when trying to hold a straight course in windy conditions.

I paddled this boat for several weeks in the Hudson and have loved it as well as everyone who tries it. In addition it turns so easily, it is good for creeks and marshes. Had occasion to take it surfing in the Atlantic and it handled superbly, both in riding the waves and punching through on the way back out. It turning ability really helps when both catching and avoiding waves.

In short this is a great, fun to paddle, adventureous all around boat, but best suited for day paddles, short to medium excursions and surf conditions. Highly recommended for a paddler looking for a boat they can grow with.

Ignore the number, just threw that in for fun. Paddled it 6 miles with 15mph breeze on fairly flat water, some little waves. Moves very easily at touring pace, everything about it looks good, low aft deck, skeg line is secured in the recess that the coaming lies in on the left side, nothing to break off or catch. The deck looks clean with flush hatch lids over neoprene covers. Weathercocking characteristics were a little odd with the skeg deployed, I was expecting a more distinct resistance to weathercocking with it deployed but it's not as distinct as other boats. Tracking improved significantly but it was though the tendency to weathercock was still there, it just didn't swing up wind as quickly into the wind so one still worked sweep strokes in nearly as much. It seemed to work best with just a slight deployment than a lot so one could still swing the stern with a sweep. It feels like it should be out amongst waves and shoreline than flat traveling.

I've only been paddling for about 4 months on weekends. I've been paddling fairly close to shore in Santa Barbara, so I've not experienced very heavy seas. I'm 6'0" and weigh 175 lbs. I've gone to a couple of demo days and tried every kayak that I could get my hands on - all the Necky models, Wilderness Systems, Perception and Prijon. I've spent most of my time in rental Zoars and plastic Looksha IVs.

After demoing all of the above, I felt most comfortable in the Zoar and Eskia (very similar handling). I liked the Looksha, Eskia and the Elaho. Even though I was zig zagging more in the Elaho than in the Zoar, I decided to order the Elaho, figuring that as my paddle stroke improved, the zig zagging would diminish.

It took about 8 weeks to get the Elaho (due to some snafus in the ordering). Due to this mixup, my kayak shop (PaddleSports of Santa Barbara) generously loaned me a Looksha IV for a while. During my 8 week wait, I improved a lot. I really got attached to the Looksha.

Now my Elaho is here and I've had a chance to paddle it a couple of times. I'll compare it to the Looksha. The Elaho seems to turn much better than the Looksha but doesn't track as well. However, dropping the skeg helps the tracking a lot. At my low skill level, I can't feel any difference in drag with the skeg down. Both initial and secondary stability seem about the equal on both kayaks. The Elaho cockpit is a tighter fit, but very comfortable. (I really like the Bomber Gear back band.) I have adequate room for my size 10 feet. The Elaho hatches are a bit smaller, but there are 3 so I guess it's not much of a tradeoff. The flush mounted hatch covers are very nice. I haven't rolled it yet to report on how well they seal. The finish on the Elaho is actually nicer than on some other Neckys I've seen. It seems very well turned out.

The regret that I'm feeling is due to the fact that I just don't seem to glide as well in the Elaho. I feel too big for it now that I've put some miles on a Looksha. This is not surprising looking at the differences in length and volume. The score of 9 is probably not fair to the Elaho since I can't really knock it on any count. I knocked the 1 point off since I'm not totally thrilled with it (yet). Admittedly, this is my own fault for buying the smaller kayak.