Napali

I've had my Napali for 6 months now, and can confirm it is a fantastic kayak.
I have used it mostly just for recreational and fitness activities, but the couple of occasions I have used it for touring it has been equal - if not superior to - any of the sit ins around me. It is fast, stable, and has a superb amount of storage, that stays completely dry always - regardless of conditions. It is great in swell, stable in cross winds, and tracks well running with the swell.

I have mine set up with a rudder and thigh straps - that while giving better paddler control, also double as useful loading and unloading straps. I highly recommend both of these additions to the basic set up. The shape of the boat is perfect, and has been beautifully designed to maximize both and stability & speed potential.

The only thing that stops it getting a 10 in my books, is the seating arrangement. While I don't have the issues, some do with the seat back, I am puzzled as to why they would have designed the seat bucket area without a drain hole. It fills with water after one wave, and has no way of draining until you get to shore and tip it up. Minor gripe in the scheme of things, but is a design fault nevertheless.
Still, this is a fantastic Yak, and one with which I am really happy.

Having owned and frequently paddled one for more than 2 months now, I feel like I'm still getting to know mine. It is a wet boat, and the standard seat outfitting is as uncomfortable as described. I believe any kayak benefits from some customizing. I glued in a hotseat, padded knee straps and the S to S low back, and it's comfortable for long paddles and very secure and controllable in bumpy weather.

The boat wants to weathercock, but not severely. I've not had to use the rudder on it. The boat carves beautifully when edged, really fun to play with around rocks or in tight quarters.

For a plastic SOT, it's faster than most. You can expect to keep up with the crowd pretty easily, and it's fun to be passing people. The aforementioned knee straps make great side carrying handles. I'll probably add a day hatch similar to the ones on the Na Pali's sistership double -- the Mandalay, which we also own.

I'm 6-4 and 230, and the boat just fits. I wanted a faster SOT, and this one compared favorably to the Necky Dolphin and Scupper Pro, and it was the only one that would comfortably hold my long legs.

This is my first sit on top and I really love the feeling of being open to the elements compared to being enclosed in my Shadow. This boat is extremely stable and the trade off with speed is not at all bad, I can hold 4.5 mph measured from GPS. I paddled the Napali on the south coast of Lake Erie against a heavy northeast wind with rebound waves coming off breakwalls creating a chaotic hell. It took everything with ease. I didn't have the usual white knuckle grip on my paddle as I do with my Shadow. I was surprised at the volume inside for touring it actually has more room than most typical touring boats. About the boats design I would have preferred that the bottle holder be replaced with a dayhatch. It would be the perfect location for one. It seems really impractical to mold a bottle holder into the design when a dayhatch would allow you to stow plenty more water below deck among a multitude of other things. I think I will attempt to somehow try to put a skid plate across the backmost point of the stern, Being such a heavy boat It's gonna take some abuse while loading. I was dissapointed with the neoprene covers for the hatches, very cheap looking and feeling compared to those on my Shadow. Comeon Perception! Don't skimp here! The backrest has a ratchet that draws the backrest into your lower back, not evenly though! It pivots inward so the top edge of the backrest cuts deep into your back while the lower edge dosen't even touch. I plan on outfitting in this area with some foam or something, or possibly trying a different backrest/seat alltogether. With a few changes this boat would be perfect. Three letters descibe the paddle experience F U N