Sound 12.5

Have owned the Perception Sound 12.5 (non angler edition) for 2 months now and have been pleasantly surprised by the boats design. We sold our canoe 2 years ago and decided to get kayaks for the family. After paddling for a year with a solo for my wife and a tandem for me and our 9 year old son we decide to get two more solo yaks so our son can start to develop paddling skills. I was drawn to the Sound 12.5 because of the unique sit in design with a scupper tank well like a sit on top. What I love most about this boat is you can load large items like a canoe behind the seat and load the rest like a kayak. We have paddled Lakes in the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone Lake and Colorado Lakes and while this boat is not the most efficient hull design it does what we need and tracks well. I call it the freighter since I end up carrying most of our camping equipment and it handles the load very well, guessing around 300lbs.

I give this boat only 9 out of 10 because I wish Perception would have outfitted the bungee line rigging better. The rear tank well bungees are fixed and cannot be unhooked, not a big deal but can make loading and unloading some items a little tough. I also wish they would put bungee lines on the bow deck for securing a bilge pump and paddle float. You must put floatation into this boat if you have any hope of doing a self-recovery….. hint, hint, nudge, nudge.

I have paddled on and off over the last 20 years from sea kayaking in Puget Sound to Canoes in lakes and rivers in Washington and Colorado. I am large framed guy at 6'2" and 225lbs and enjoy the versatility of this boat. Has good initial stability and what I really like is this boats design has some secondary stability so it handles swells and leans better than most recreation boats.

I purchased a 12.5 Sound last summer and floated the rest of the season with it. Great boat. It is very fast, stable, plenty of room and easy to paddle. We hope to do some more overnight floats this next year so I will come back on how it performs with a full load.

I've owned and paddled this boat extensively for 3 months on lakes and rivers. Light, stable, good glide, roomy, as fast or faster than any 12' boat on the market bar none (SOT or SINK). Big cockpit allows EZ entry/exit. Plenty of storage aft and big tankwell. The molded dash it very nice and handy to hold stuff you need to get to quick. Very reasonably priced! About me, 6'1" x #215, expert kayak fisherman with over 15 years experience.