Swiftwater 10.5

I bought this kayak to paddle local rivers and lakes. What I bought was a cheaply built poor handling piece of plastic. cheap materials poor tracking and very unstable. not for the beginner.

I bought the Swift water at the end of last season and, did not have a lot of time in it. Original thoughts were it's very slippery, had a tracking problem and never felt tucked in the seat.
WELL. I was withholding judgment til this year. Took it out in moderate chop and wakes the other day. Tracking definitly an issue and very susceptible to the wind. Had I known this at the end of last season, I probably would have returned it I've paddled for years in Corsica's mostly. On the New and Gauley Rivers I just can't get comfortable in this boat. I though it might be a little more suited for open water. As long as your moving forward it's manageable, but that's not what I'm looking for when I paddle. I think it's time to dig the old boat outta mothballs.

Overall is a pretty good boat, great boat for flat water and not too bad on whitewater, I ran some class 4s in it on wolf river section 4. Not as responsive as a whitewater boat though, takes some serious practice.

I just purchased this kayak after reviewing for about 2 years. I was gonna but the Perception Rhythm 11' kayak, but saw the Swiftwater, with its deck layout and paddle park and bought it instead! I had it out on the Cheat River with moderate choppy water, and it tracked alright. I think this kayak does better in choppy water; in calm water it does catch the wind and turn on ya.

This kayak isn't for the beginner, and does take some skills to paddle, but I LOVE THIS KAYAK, was in it for 9 hours,and had NO PROBLEMS, except for the seat got a little uncomfortable, but ya sit in something long enough, ANY KAYAK, will make your butt ache! I totally enjoy this kayak, and the smaller cockpit kept water out, the bulkhead stayed DRY, but I think this kayak will please the more advanced paddler!

This is my first kayak purchase, but I have paddled some other similar boats. This kayak is great fun, very stable, and super maneuverable on class I and II rivers but it's very susceptible to weather helm from even the slightest breeze, and paddling it in open water on even a short jaunt takes some serious skill to keeping it going straight (although I was told that towing a full water bottle would help, and it did, but who wants to do that all the time?).

The cockpit, though fairly small for a rec boat, is very comfortable, the thigh pads are acceptable, and the seat back is quite nice. We added a foam stadium seat pad under the stock seat on ours to raise the seat height just a touch and add cushion and better drainage. The placement of the deck bungees are perfect, but the rear bulkhead and Tupperware hatch are NOT watertight on either of ours. In addition, there's no drainage port, so in the case of a flip, there will always be some water in the bottom of the boat as it gets caught in the deck and under the cockpit combing.

The Swiftwater 10.5 was originally a Dagger Blackwater and was designed with a retractable skeg. Judging by it's current handling characteristics, I'd guess that it was a fairly competent and fun hybrid boat in that configuration, but by retooling it without the skeg, Confluence has turned it into little more than a fun little beginner's toy boat.

After just one summer in the Swiftwater, I already want to upgrade to something either in a similar length with a skeg, or something in the 12-13' range for better tracking on open water.

Perception Sport does not have a website, so for me, I couldn't find enough information before I decided to buy this kayak from Sportsman's Warehouse. Previously, I had a Dagger Cypress and loved how it tracked and handled on slow rivers and on calmer oceans. We wanted kayaks that would be great on flat water lakes as well as moving water.

I was initially worried about the length being shorter as far as tracking, cargo capacity, etc, but I was sure wrong. My fiancé and I love this kayak! It handles small waves nicely, is easy to maneuver, is pretty stable for being so narrow and tracks well. The weight is definitely manageable for one person, and easy with two. Cargo space seems okay — we figured we could fit enough gear between the two of us for an overnight camping trip if we budgeted weight well.

We have only taken them out a couple times on a large lake (calm one day, and wavy the next), and as soon as we take them on faster water, I will update this review. Recommended!