With her introduction the Pinguino 145 quickly rocketed to the top of our boat line to become our best selling design. The Pinguino is a great choice for paddlers who want the quickness, lightweight, and joy of paddling a Pygmy, but prefer a roomier cockpit, and high initial stability. The Pinguino 145's larger cockpit and greater stability make it a perfect choice for fishing, photography, bird watching, or a relaxing day on the water. Penguin is Spanish for Penguin and, like the penguin, the Pinguino's short and broad appearance belies its grace, quickness and agility on the water.
A Great Light Touring Kayak: A beautiful, fair, multi-chine hull minimizes her wetted surface and maximizes her speed. The Pinguino 145’s big advantage is the fact she has less wetted surface and less frictional drag than longer boats. For example, despite the fact that the Pinguino 145 is two-and-a-half inches wider and much more stable than the Arctic Tern 17, she has 9.8% less wetted surface and frictional drag, meaning it takes 9.8% less effort to paddle at cruising speeds. She, like the Arctic Tern 14 & Pinguino 145 4PD, is a great choice for anyone who routinely paddles with someone stronger than they are.
Owner and designer, John Lockwood, paddled the Pinguino 145 along the Central BC Coast for two weeks and noted, “The Pinguino 145’s cruising speed advantage made it easier for me to keep up with Freya and Hannah, who are much stronger paddlers than I. My old body’s getting cranky and less flexible and I was much more comfortable with the Pinguino’s greater knee height and foot room. She was enormously more stable, very well behaved, and handled rough water really well. I felt more at ease and secure. I loved the boat.”
Stable, Comfortable, and Well Mannered: She’s more stable with more knee height and foot room than any of our other touring boats except the Borealis XL. She tracks solidly, but thanks to her shorter length is quick to turn. She lays over securely on edge and cuts a very rapid chine (leaned) turn. The Pygmy four panel deck design brings the sheer down, so even with her 25.5” beam, the Pinguino still allows comfortable low or high angle stroke. She has a large 19”x36” cockpit, and can also be ordered with a 17”x33” cockpit opening for smaller paddlers.
Fishing, Bird Watching, Photography: She’s a great boat for messing about cruising rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and gunk holing the coast line. For smaller paddlers, people who like a snugger fit, or those that want to take her into the surf zone or rock gardens be sure to checkout the Pinguino 145 4PD.
