FastTrack™ 385ft

Buyer Beware!S

Seriously consider any other manufacturer over Sea Eagle if you expect your kayak to last more than a few years and get reasonably priced replacement cost for product failures.

We paid a premium price for what we thought was a superior product.

Instead we found that Sea Eagle seams fail - not from misuse, overuse, extreme use, neglect or improper storage. Sea Eagle seams just fail - period.

Our 385ft FastTrack experienced multiple seam failures for no explicable reason. The company's explanation - when the seams start to leak there's not much you can do. The company's solution - buy a replacement hull for nearly the price of a new fully equipped 385ft kayak. Our interpretation - Sea Eagle does not stand by their products.

I bought the 385 Fast Track with the Pro package and an electric pump with the battery pack in 2013, delivered to Luxembourg where I usually reside. I transported it to Greece in a place called Kalamata where I spend my holidays.
Everything worked perfectly up to August 2016 when part of the seam in one of the main chambers opened (10 cm) because the pressure increased due to high temperature . I repared it in a local professional boat expert and we tested it and everything looked fine again.
This year however I experienced a total disappointment because during the first exposure to the sun another part of the seam opened although I had not put much pressure (2,9 instead of the recommended 3.2)! What is worse, is the fact that the entire seam looks defected and can be opened easily like a toy.
Nothing to do about it, so we decided to throw everything away. It is too risky to paddle away (about 5 miles and return) in deep sea waters.

It is really a pity because up to last year we were very happy and were enjoying with my wife our daily excursions in this beautiful corner of the Mediterranean for about a month.
My understanding is that this kayak is not appropriate for so high temperatures and too salty waters! While the material is really strong and resistant this is not true for the seams! And it has too many seams on the main chambers! I would love a kayak that does not have seams or one with minimal and reinforced seams!

The other disappointment is about the battery pack: it stoped charging this year! So, the only way to use it is through the cables connecting to the battery of the car! I looked for buying a new battery pack but I could not find (or they do not deliver outside the US).

Overall I would say that I enjoyed it for 3 years, and I was proud of it, I was even advertising it and suggesting to many tourists who were asking me how much it costed and where I bought it, etc....

The bottom line however is that it is probably not appropriate for the ...Mediterranean sea.... which is exposed to high temperatures!

The 385FT goes with us all over the country in our motorcoach. We've rafted in many areas that are almost impossible to get to, because it is light weight, easy to carry and simple to set up on location. It's the perfect size for my wife, myself and our water loving Collie.

A couple of weeks ago I got it out to get ready for our summer adventure to the NE U.S. and Canada Provinces. We were devastated when we discovered a leak in one of the seams. I called the customer service rep at the factory for information on the proper glue and technique to reseal the seam. The rep, Jerry, and consequently his senior Will, suggested that because the kayak just turned 3 years old, they would replace it free of charge under warranty. It was a totally unexpected offer and we can't thank them enough. Nice to see a company stand behind their product and do right by their customers. We look forward to many more years of water adventures with Sea Eagle Products.

My 7 year old granddaughter pumped it up in under 6 minutes with the foot pump. Very good pump and easy to use; built in pressure stop takes all the guess work out of the PSI level.

The storage back pack makes it easy to carry, and it easy to fold and unfold. Good paddles 8' AB40s and they break down for easy storage inside the trunk.

I bought it to take along in my travel trailer and not have to worry about a hard shell on top of the truck (Ram 1500). Kayak is easily stored inside vehicle or in travel trailer; locked up and out of sight.

Great on the water; lakes, ocean, and slow rivers. It is very stable, strong, and can handle two large adults.
I like it and I recommend it!

The boat arrived in two cardboard boxes via UPS from New York to my home in southern Oregon. All of the major items were there and were undamaged and in new condition. The material seems very rugged and the fit and finish of seams, valves, d-rings, handles, etc. were very good.

The printed instructions that came with the boat are not very detailed, but I found a YouTube video produced by Sea Eagle that showed how to set up the 2014 model.

Inflation was easy using the basic foot pump, and took about 10 minutes. I left the kayak inflated overnight, and it seemed to be at about the same firmness the next morning.

My wife and I packed it into the trunk of our Honda Civic and took it to a nearby mountain lake for the maiden voyage. Although we are both in our high 60's, we had no trouble setting it up and walking it about 50 yards to the water. The FastTrack floats in about a foot of water, and we had no trouble getting in and heading out onto the lake.

This was our first kayaking experience of any kind, and it was delightful! The kayak paddles very easily, and we quickly learned how to synchronize our paddling and to ad a short pause between strokes to give water a bit more time to drip off of the paddles. The kayak tracks very straight, with very little side-to-side motion as we dig the paddles into water.

I am 6-feet tall and my wife is 5'4", and we weigh about 340 pounds combined. I'm the taller and heavier of us, and I sat in the back seat which offers a bit more leg room than in the front. I paddled leaning slightly forward in the inflatable seat as recommended by Sea Eagle, and the paddle handles occasionally grazed my knees, but overall we found the 385FT to be adequate for the type of day-use flat-water recreational paddling we intend to do. I also plan to take the kayak out solo at times, and may even add a sail kit, so I wanted to have the shorter 385FT rather than the roomier 465FT.

I'd been looking at inflatable kayaks for about two years, mulling over length, cost, motors, etc. I tentatively decided on the Saturn Kaboat or the Sea Eagle Paddleski. However, I really wanted to just paddle the kayak and to not have a motor if at all possible. I was finally convinced by the lower profile of the Sea Eagle FastTrack along with the skeg and inflatable "needle knife" keel. This kayak is easy to paddle, tracks really well and minimizes wind resistance.

So far I like this kayak a lot. I'll post again after I've had a few more outings.

Those disappointments aside, the 2013 fast track does track amazingly straight, and fast. We have no problem paddling upstream in current when we want to. When we decide to go tandem, we both fit in one reasonably well, but not much room to spare; I agree with the other reviewer - if both of you are over 5'9" I'd get the longer one, if you don't want to feel cramped. Especially if you want to put a motor on it - the motor mount is good, but takes up that much more space.

Regarding the removable skeg, it definitely needs it - we forgot it once and found out that the kayak tracks VERY poorly without it. But overall the 385 fast track is a good kayak, made of very durable material, and you can't beat the portability of an inflatable.

I feel that this is important to mention here because for the average working class person like myself, THIS IS AN EXPENSIVE ITEM. While the average hard shell recreational kayak costs between four and five hundred dollars (Canadian), this baby set me back almost thirteen hundred bucks when all was said and done, so I would expect it to last for many years. Sea Eagle guarantees the boat against 'manufacturing defects' for three years, but for the price I paid, I would expect it to last much longer than that. Only time will tell. That said, It seems like a very high quality product.

I'm enjoying this thing immensely. I don't know much about fabric but this cool, hard rubbery stuff just seems to bounce off of, and slide over everything. I paddled with a seventy pound lab in the boat and had no worries whatsoever about the floor. The kayak is extremely stable, and it tracks perfectly. The inflatable seats are very comfy, and they put you in a great paddling position a few inches off the floor. You can stand in this boat and use it as a paddle board, and it's absolutely great for fishing. Furthermore, you can jump off of it for a swim, and easily climb back in without tipping.

I can't say all that much about the speed of this kayak because I'm not an experienced kayaker, but I can say that it's as fast as any recreational kayak I've ever paddled. I've also paddled upwind and up-current, and it stays straight. You can easily put an electric motor on this kayak thanks to some rear 'carry-handles'(I can't wait to try this), and another great feature is the fact that you can position the inflatable seats any where you want to in the boat, facing either forward or backward. This way, You can just sit back, put your feet up on the side of the boat and fish while your girlfriend does the paddling......like I do, and hopefully will for many years!

The FastTrack 385 is excellent for flat water lakes, bayous, reservoirs, or any body of water that doesn't become shallow but not the best for whitewater. When you install the included skeg and air up the front keel it tracks dead straight and is a pleasure to paddle but gets stuck easily in shallow water or around underwater rocks and trees. If you plan to take the FT 385 into whitewater you'll need to remove the skeg and not inflate the keel. Unfortunately the keel sticks about 4 inches under the water even while un-inflated and makes traveling over shallow water more difficult It also hangs up on rocks, sandbars, and any other object that you may pass over.

The FT385 Classic that we own has 4 self drain valves that drain water quickly but the new 2013 model only has 2 and drains water slower. For these reasons I don't recommend the FT 385 if you plan to do lots of whitewater trips.

The FT 385 will easily seat two passengers with a large kayak cooler plus other gear so long as they are 5'8" or smaller. If either passenger is taller than this I highly recommend you buy the longer FastTrack 465 for the extra leg room. If you plan to paddle solo you'll have more than enough room no matter how long your legs are. Width wise the FT 385 has plenty of space even for those with "extra cushion" if you know what I mean.

The included inflatable seats and 8' paddles are ok but I highly recommend you buy the tall back seats and make plans to buy a quality paddle at a local kayak/canoe or sports store. The inflatable seats are great for anyone weighing less than 125 lbs but they do not provide much back support for those weighing more. The backs tend to bend or collapse as they cannot support much weight. The Sea Eagle paddles are heavy, have lots of vibration, and are not very efficient. They are best used as an emergency backup rather than you main go-to paddle. If you plan to do short 1 hour or fewer paddles they would be ok but if you plan to paddle for longer periods of time you'll appreciate a lighter, more efficient paddle. The only good thing about the SE paddles is that they can be broken down into 4 sections for easy storage.

To recap, the Sea Eagle FastTrack 385 is a sturdy, lightweight, fast, extremely portable kayak that is best used in flat water and very light white water. It can easily hold two kayakers, lots of gear, and tracks very straight. It does not take much effort to get the kayak moving and going fast. Solo kayakers will have plenty of leg and storage room while larger (i.e. longer) kayakers who paddle tandem would be better served with the larger FastTrack 465 model.
For those who are looking to paddle lots of whitewater I highly recommend a Sea Eagle Explorer model as they are better equipped to handle shallow water, rocks, and sandbars.

Overall an excellent, versatile kayak. Seems very tough - can strap it to top of van; have had it inflated for days and it keeps its pressure; rated for class 3 whitewater. Fairly light weight for such a tough boat. Has a large weight-bearing capacity. Works just as nicely solo as it does tandem.

When tandem, it is nice with their inflatable "deluxe" seats, that you can position them wherever you want in the boat, i.e., you are not forced like w/ some kayaks to only put the seat(s) where there are rings to hook the seat onto. Very stable - can even stand up in it. Speed is OK. The long skeg helps it track perfectly straight, but it sticks so far down into the water; I have trimmed (sawed and ground off) several inches off the end of the skeg so it can handle shallower water. My family likes this kayak a lot.

Two things we like about inflatables. One is the portability - we have taken it both w/ vehicle and on flights, as it fits in a suitcase. (Added flexibility - can transport it inflated on top of a vehicle so it is always ready to go, but then when you want, you can deflate it and tuck it away inside.) The other is that since the seats are also inflatable in addition to the kayak, it is very comfortable; you can kind of lay back and stretch out, put your feet up, etc., when you want to relax, which you cannot do so easily w/ a hard-shell. (However, at times the air in the bottom part of the inflatable seat leaks out gradually when you sprawl out and stretch back - this is one thing they could make more robust.)

Misnomer: to call this a "Fast" track is somewhat of a misnomer. A detailed, consistent study w/ a GPS unit shows that Sea Eagle's basic SE370 "Sport" kayak for ~1/4 the price (approx. same 12.5' length as the Fast Track) and also a 10-foot hard-shell will both achieve the same speeds as the "Fast" Track. Typical range for solo of 2.8 to 3.4 mph for easy to steady paddling, 3.8-3.9 for firm paddling, and 4.4 or so for a sprint, with tandem paddling being only slightly faster. The Fast Track can not reach its "theoretical maximum hull speed." They really should have called it either a "Straight Track" since it does track very straight, or a "Versa Yak" since it does have many nice features and capabilities to it.

Therefore I am glad to see that Sea Eagle introduced a new design for Fast Track in 2013 that is more streamlined for better speed and glide; the compromise is that the new version is rated only up to class 2 rapids (yet this may actually not be an issue for most people, but is something to be aware of).

Set up time is 10 minutes and taking my sweet time, you probably can do it in 8 but I'm not as young as I used to be. Take down time is less, as I wash & dry the kayak at home. Storage at home is a breeze due to the compact size of the bag, just any corner will do. I don't have any negatives to say about this boat.

I would recommend this kayak to anyone that is looking for an inflatable.