Venture Easky 13

I just wanted to point out one thing I noticed about the Easky 13, while comparing it to the Easky 15 LV (which I quite liked) and the Easky 15 with rudder - which unloaded seemed to have too much volume and windage for a 160 pound paddler who prefers low volume skeg boats.

The Easky 13 moved quite well for such a short boat, but I have the impression that in shortening the Easky design, the designer kept too much volume in the back, as opposed to the front. Maybe this works well with a big load in the back, but unloaded, I drove it fast into a couple of 2-3 foot high boat wakes, and they came right over the bow and straight into the cockpit.

I think this is a good casual, recreational boat so I gave it an 8. It was comfortable to sit in, fit well (snugly) and turned pretty well, but don't mistake it for a kayak designed for handling waves. I did the same thing with the larger Easky boats, and they cut the wakes with no excitement at all.

I bought this boat a month ago (the 2008 model) and am generally quite impressed with it. The Easky 13 has a great deal of both primary and secondary stability. It has good glide, heels over to the edge of the cockpit without capsizing and turns easily with a lean. Speed is reasonable good as well. The hull is quite stiff for a plastic boat and it has nice lines to boot. This boat allows the paddler to feel very connected to the boat and hence the water.

The hatch covers have been water tight so far, though stretching them to close takes some effort. The skeg does a very nice job of helping the boat to track straight in wind and waves and I wouldn't want to give it up. This boat has sold me on the advantages of a skeg system.

My only complaint is the seat. While not terrible it does pinch my buttocks across the back after about an hour. I attribute this to the bench seat which evidently was designed for someone with an unusually large derriere. That leaves me out. My wife has the 2007 version with the bucket seat and I have no problem with that, it is very comfortable for me. I wish they had left it as it was - although the thoracic extension is a nice touch.

Other than that though, it's an excellent boat for the price with very high quality plastic and construction. It does a good job of housing larger paddlers and providing a reassuring sense of overall stability while offering a high degree of maneuverability and seaworthiness. It is definitely a quality water craft. I recommend it to anyone searching for a kayak in the light touring class who does not have a skinny butt.

I bought this kayak with a view to using it on scottish lochs and larger rivers, and possibly coastal stuff up to sea state 2-3 max. I knew it was fairly wide and the initial stability is excellent- good for photography, I also wasn't kidding myself it was a true sea kayak. It is possible to edge it to a degree but it does tend to "just go over" if leaned too far, but with no skeg or rudder I can get it going in a straight line easily, and it's fairly quick for its size and contact area with the water. I hired a WS Tempest 170 and with it's skeg down there was hardly any difference in speed over a choppy Loch Morlich.

The storage is excellent, and watertight completely so far. The XL bigdeck is reassuring for a novice(-exiting and re-entering)- and that extra overall width of the kayak(67cm) means that after a wet exit I can easily get back in by mounting from the rear, keeping low and pulling myself along the yak til I can drop my behind in then my legs. handy as I do tend to paddle alone frequently- the peace is part of the attraction! Overall I'm very pleased with it, a solid bit of kit for £400 that I will keep for accessing the more remote Munros of Scotland (Lochs and Sea Lochs- such as Loch Ericht and Knoydart) that can't be accessed by any roads and normally involve a long walk in. I can get plenty of stuff for a 3 day expedition in it. I will(hopefully) learn to roll a kayak in a pool and will eventually try to roll the Easky, though experienced paddler friends of friends have said the width and initial stability may make it difficult...though not impossible!

Oh- and like the previous reviewer, I am about 100kg fully kitted up and the kayak will take a good bit more than that, be it kit, muscle or flab!