Scupper Classic

I paddled my friends' Scupper Pro as a borrowed spare boat for a few years and adored it. I was determined to find one some day (on my tiny budget).

One day I launched my Perception Sea Lion into a local lake, and got very very wet feet (wot? wait... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!). Pulled up on a beach, my buddy found a crack in the hull, produced duct tape, and saved the day (it held up for four hours of paddling).

Loading up I noticed one of the vast crew also loading the "spilled crayon box of kayaks" next to me was shoving a yellow boat onto a truck.

Me: OMG is that a Scupper Pro?"

Him: "Yes."

"Is it for sale?"

"No but I know where one is..."

His friend piped up at that moment with "I have an old Scupper..."

I followed him and his wife home and bought it for $125. It required some cleaning, pipe insulation around the hatches, new bungees. (I also got a plastic welding kit for the Sea Lion).

It is utterly awesome.

At 14' it's long and lean enough to be fast and efficient. It's also got primary and secondary stability. Put a newbie or a kid in it and they'll be fine. It tracks straight and turns on a dime like a reining horse. The seat is in the center so it is balanced and level in the water if loaded correctly. You can stow a day's worth or more of gear belowdecks. One reviewer claims it glides better (glide factor: when you stop paddling, it keeps moving forward) with about 50 pounds of gear in the hold. Any gear in a hold should be secured (pack air bags, other gear or pool noodles around it, or install bulkheads), and things that can't be wet should be in dry bags. Never trust a kayak interior to stay dry. The hatch seals are easily reparable with pipe insulation, bungee cords can be replaced. Cracks can be welded. There are still some old ones around and they are awesome.

​This boat hugs the water, so is easy to get back aboard from deep water: I keep fins on deck; put them on and kick yourself back aboard. Swim up on bow or stern, not the middle, to avoid rolling the boat.

This is a nice intermediate size, longer than your 10' or 12' rec boat, shorter than a whole 18' sea kayak. A long boat is actually easier to load: you tilt one end up (use a roller on your rear window) and slide the boat after. It will not accommodate huge hips or very long legs. It is user friendly for small paddlers, though reviews I've seen suggest some large/tall folks have used it.

The "butt well" (seat) and foot wells are deep, so your butt is actually below the waterline, putting your center of gravity low, and thus more stable. You can "wear the boat" as you would a sea kayak: controlling it with your legs against the sides of the foot wells. A little closed cell foam padding can help you adjust the seat, raise you up enough to sit comfier. It REQUIRES a seat back, as does the Pro: for back support. You can buy a whole soft kayak seat/back or just use the back support made for the boat (which I have, and it's great).

I have paddled in surf, offshore, rivers, lakes, and a two day solo paddle along the inside of Assateague Island (in other boats). The Scupper will mostly see lakes, rivers, tidal waters, the Chesapeake Bay. As with any old boat, I will keep it in the boat shed, shaded, and 303'd to protect the plastic as long as possible. If you can find one of these, go for it. It's a great first boat (better than "the bucket that floats" that most newbies end up with) and can stretch far beyond as you gain skills.

The Ocean Kayak Scupper is a fast kayak with a surprising amount of stability. It tracks well and can carry a surprising amount of gear.

I bought my Ocean Kayak Scupper in 1997 and have kept it in the fleet because it does certain things very well.

In the past the boat was used in on multi day flat water trips down rivers and for surfing when the waves are small.

Advantages of the Scupper are comfortable seating, good tracking, good speed for a 14 foot boat, stability and carrying capacity.

Disadvantages of the boat are lack of bulkheads, leaking hatches, lack of bulkheads, wet ride and poor maneuverability.

The boat will haul a decent amount of gear and seems to glide better when loaded with about 50 lbs of gear. The hatches are large enough to put tents, spare paddles or other large items below deck. Because there are no bulkheads to seal the compartments, all gear below deck is subject to sliding up under the cockpit area and being hard to retrieve. Gear sliding forward or aft also shifts the balance of the boat. Another disadvantage to lack of bulkheads is most gear gets wet due to leaking hatches.

One problem with the hatch design on my boat is they have always leaked. I have tried aftermarket weather strip seals to alleviate this, but the hatches are hard plastic and do not conform to the hull well enough to get a watertight seal. In rough water or surf zones, the boat takes on some water through the hatches. This gets gear wet and can be a dangerous situation if caught in rough water for extended lengths of time. The boat will flood and lose buoyancy and stability over time.

Because of boat speed and length, the scupper will catch small waves and is a lot of fun in the surf zone. Again, I have to stop after every three or four waves to drain water from the boat.

Tracking is very good for a 14 foot boat. However this is at the expense of maneuverability. This is a good boat for long trips on flat water with few obstacles to navigation.

Maneuverability is not so great. The boat has an interesting bottom shape with a round protrusion down the centerline that runs most of the length of the bottom and acts as a keel. This center protrusion allows the boat to have excellent tracking and the flat bottom on either side of this protrusion increase initial stability. The deeper centerline allows loads stored below deck to stay fairly centered in the boat. A tent fits nicely in the center section and water bottles tend to settle to the center. This keeps weight low when loaded and increases stability of the boat.

Heeling the boat is difficult because there is nothing to brace the legs against in the SOT design. When the boat is heeled it does edge turn a little, but is not extremely responsive.

The Scupper is a wet ride if the scuppers are not plugged. I sit in the water without plugs in the scuppers. The scuppers are fairly small and if the cockpit is swamped, the cockpit is slow to drain. I usually keep the scuppers plugged to avoid sitting in the water, unless I am in rough water where the cockpit is likely to flood. Because the boat sits low in the water, even small waves can wash into the cockpit if the waves hit the boat broadside. This often happens with motor boat wake.

The Scupper Classic is very comfortable, especially with the addition of a surf to summit seat that provides back support. I highly recommend the addition of this seat if you have this boat. It really makes a big difference by providing great back support. The foot positions are molded into the boat and act as foot pegs. I can change position of my feet and legs at will and this really helps with comfort in the boat for long distance trips.

The best use of this boat is covering long distances on sheltered flat water rivers. It is very comfortable, tracks well and is fast for a 14 foot boat. The scupper is not a safe boat in open water and far from shore because it lacks bulkheads and the hatches don't seal well. While the Scupper Classic is not a great all around boat, it has remained in my fleet for many years because of what is does exceptionally well.

I got this kayak a few months ago off of craigslist, and its been amazing. Ive taken it both on the intercoastal waterways around Tampa Bay and on rivers nearby. I'm 280 and not in shape at all, but in the open water I can outrun all my friends, its very fast for a sit on top. It tracks fine without a rudder. This kayak was designed for scuba divers, it has lots of storage and getting in is really easy should you fall out. Ive only fallen out once in a river after trying to push off a branch (rookie mistake), its not super stable until you get used to it, which should be by the end of your first paddle. I'm not sure if the seat I have is stock, but its a very comfortable ride and have not run into any discomfort even after 4+ hours of paddling.

There are two sore points to this boat though. Its not maneuverable and hard to move by yourself. Its heavy, but not excessively for its size. Its hard to move by yourself simply because there is nowhere to grab onto near the middle. Its turn radius is huge, which can lead to problems in a winding river. Because of the scupper holes you will ALWAYS be wet, when sitting in it the water sits a bit inside.

To sum it up, this boat is amazing in open water in warm climates. Its designed to move quickly and carry a moderate amount of gear. It can be used for slow rivers as well. It is a poor choice for cold or rapidly moving water, or for anyone that needs a lot of stability.

Overall a great kayak. Not super fast. Workmanship is what you would expect for the price, very good. People complain that the cockpit is too narrow but I'd guess THEY are just too wide. At 6'0" 170 lbs, 33 inch inseam, it fits me like a glove. This cockpit can easily handle a 6' person (legs fully extended), maybe even up to 6'3". Very comfortable. I can see how the hatches might leak even though I just do lakes. VERY stable, they could easily make it an inch or two skinnier. My only complaint is that it should track straighter if they are going to promote it as a touring kayak. IMO, almost all kayaks need a more distinct keel line. I couldn't care less about turning on a dime. If this boat were 16-17 feet long and an inch or two skinnier it would really be a touring SOT. In any case it was definitely worth what I paid for it. Comfortable, attractive, stable and fairly light.

I'd go find one now because they broke the mold and won't be make anymore (no, literally, the mold broke). This is a great multipurpose boat and aptly named. It comes equipped with pad eyes for seat and straps, adequate grab handles at the ends, a molded-in bottle holder and two large hatches capable of swallowing tents, camping stoves, etc. The threaded drain plug is at the tip of the bow, so you'll get all the water out and can also run a keeper string to the grab loop. In open water, it's not the fastest stallion in the stable, but it's adequate. The bow deflects waves well if you're heading into them. Any other direction and they wash right over the low freeboard. That low freeboard and narrow beam (for an SOT) make the low weight possible. The low profile also refuses to catch the wind. Even though it's skinny by SOT standards, it's quite stable. It tracks okay unless you get a following sea. But, let's not forget it's a 14' boat. The hatches leak, which can be dangerous offshore. Some pipe insulation easily seals them up. If you leave the boat, intended or not, it's very easy to scramble aboard. With the wet ride, I hear people complaining about the seat puddle, and some of them plug the scuppers. I use the extra thick foam seat available through the manufacturer and it keeps my butt out of the water. Better yet, it's got grooves underneath, allowing the scuppers to do their job. It's also a good boat on the river. While not a spinner, it does respond to a sweep. It'll also draw and ferry well. You're okay for eddy turns and peelouts. I've used it up to Class III without a problem, but I wouldn't push it beyond that.

I have access to three different brands of Kayaks, plus my own 18' fiberglass fast touring Twogood, and I must say, here in choppy Kaneohe bay, the Scupper Classic is the best fit. Plus points - 1. suprisingly fast for a 14' boat - my 18' Twogood is not much faster unless I really work at it. 2. It's stable. We regularly have a nasty 1 - 2' chop in the bay, and the scupper will work right through it without threating to spill you. 3. It's surfable. The outlying islands in the bay have 2 - 4 foot waves, sometimes breaking, and most of the time, it's surfable. But not much. The long keel and plumb bow and stern make surfing turns difficult - you must be set up properly before you start. 5. It's strong. The darn thing is nearly indestructable. We frequently run scuppers up on rocky beaches, and they simply take what a fiberglass kayak would shatter on. The Minuses? Well, the hatches Do leak. and the poprivets will corrode and break on you, so make sure to replace them with stainless ones.... All in all, a remarkable boat.

We live in Coconut Grove, a Miami neighborhood close to the water. We had an Ocean Kayak Malibu II, but it walked, along with its lock and chain, at just about the same time our house was tented for termites –and- our next door neighbors, renters, left for parts unknown. Hmmm… Out of kayaking for a couple of years, the urge resurfaced. We decided to get two boats, and went to a kayak expo to test any of literally dozens of models. The Aquaterra/Perception Prism, the Wilderness Systems Freedom and Ride, the Necky , and the Hobie Pursuit were pitted against each other. It came down to the Freedom vs. the Scupper Classic, and the classic won on the strength of cost and hatches.

The Ocean Kayak Scupper Classic is a fairly quick, well-tracking sit-on-top. It has two sizable hatches fore and aft, and a convenient cup holder between the paddlers knees. It handles well in a constant chop of 1-2 foot seas though in a quartering rear sea it needs to be herded on a straight track. My wife enjoyed it only slightly less than the Freedom, whereas I thought it was a little more stable. And while it tracks quite well, it does take just a wee a bit of work to turn without a rudder. I’m 6 feet tall and a very fit 205# with something of a wide beam (the family hipbones just CANNOT be narrowed!), and it fits me very nicely, and it fits my wife quite well, too. My son’s 6-1, and he liked it. I can see doing an overnight river run and camping trip in it. Now all I need to do is convince my wife… Overall, I’m quite pleased, and score it as an 8 out of 10.

Let me first say that sit on tops are really not my ideal boat. That said, I also believe that the Scupper Classic is the best of all the sit on tops that I tried. I feel that it is reasonably fast for its type. It is indestructable, tracks straight, is good in rough water and is cheap. I also tried the Prism, the Scupper Pro, the Necky Dolphin and the Scrambler. For my taste the Classic leads the pack. The Necky and Prism are slower. The Scupper pro is similar but less manuverable. The Scrambler is way too slow and slaps the water when you paddle hard. If you are considering a sit on top for fishing, diving or exploring, then you should really put the Classic on the top of your list. It is almost as much fun as cockpit kayak of the slower recreational type, like a Carolina. I love the Classic and must applaud Ocean Kayak for their first and best effort.