Tahiti Classic 2-Person Kayak

Ho la Sevylor k79 da più di 10 anni e l'ho usata con divertimento e soddisfazione a Mljet, Itaca e Cefalonia. Con il timone e delle pagaie tecniche si possono fare lunghe distanze ed e facile scendere dalla canoa, fare il bagno e risalire.Un ottimo prodotto, anche molto economico.

This is the worst Sevylor inflatable boat / kayak that I have owned.
The seats are totally useless, no support, are not fastened to the floor so slip and slide, terrible back ache items,
the floor inflator is separate hard to inflate and easy to loose,
it has no steering at all, if there happens to be a little breeze it goes round in circles, so difficult to manoeuvre.
Quality of build is comparable to a child's blow up beach boat, worse than some !!, there is one thing in its favour, I think that the red and blue of ours is pretty.
Purchased with a hole in one seat so would not inflate, the floor had a slow puncture that was impossible to locate.
In all poor value, poor quality, poor fun.

I have the HFK-79 [Tahiti] and I love it. It's definitely too small for 2 people, but I fish in it by myself and have plenty of room. The first few times I used it I sat in the back and had trouble with the seat sliding so that by the end of my trip I was pretty much laying down, but then I figured out I can put the milk crate with my fishing gear in the back, put the seat against that and it doesn't slide. Plus, since being more forward keeps the front in the water, it tracks way better and spins less when you stop. Of course, I'd love to have a hard-sided fishing kayak, but for $100 this thing is amazing.

Bought my Green One and have used it twice. I did buy the skeg and used it twice. The skeg is hardly ever in the water = useless. This is a big float. Will NOT stay straight. Useless for me and a perfect total waste of money!

I've owned the Tahiti hf 109 the long version for 4 months I've been in the sea but mostly rivers the bottom is very strong and scrapes rocks fine but I've had 7 punctures in the side tubes 3 were off just being folded and stored then the final one were it tore from the bottom seam can't be fixed I paid 100 pound for boat so bit disappointed if only sides were as thick as bottom if you want an inflatable that lasts this is not it.

Our orange Tahiti cost $40.00 and has served us well since 1975 despite a few patches. We have always rinsed off salt water and mud and dried it before storing it in a cool basement. Now that we are older we often use a strong umbrella to get up speed when the wind comes up on a lake. We are looking for a new plug since ours popped off coming down the Rogue.

I have the 2+1 version. No previous experience of kayaking. First trip out was a bit difficult: found it hard to control direction even with the skeg attached. My second trip today was much more successful. I'm getting the hand of control. Paddling from near the back of the boat, rather than further to the front really seems to help. Don't feel dispirited if you can't control the thing first time!

Fantastic price - I paid £110. Plenty of space for me (6'2", 200lbs), my 8-year old boy and coats, bags, etc.. Quick to inflate - 10 mins with a foot pump. Really pleased with the product.

We have used the Tahiti as a barge for carrying our gear while back packing in Big Cypress Preserve Florida. Since we are wading in the summer and fall it is a great aid for overnight trips in the swamp. An added bonus is having a boat for fishing, photography etc. when we encounter really deep water. Love it.

I have given this boat a 9/10. There are better boats out there, but I have rated it on how well it fulfills it's specific purpose; that of a cheap beginner boat

I got the slightly longer K109, which is about 12'8" but otherwise identical to the K79. I have had it three months and put four holes in it - all my own fault and not one of them has occurred on the water (all were done through clumsiness on my part when transporting it). If you have to carry it any distance, get a folding upright trolley for it.

It doesn't track well sadly, but nor is it supposed to - it's a white water boat that is intended to be able to turn on a sixpence, which it does. Get the optional skeg, it's worth it. However, I also made a 75cm long by 20cm deep fin to strap to the underside of the hull like a false keel. It now tracks brilliantly - I'd even go so far as to say that it tracks better than a hard shell with my homemade fin.

It is rugged, and can take some abuse. You will get punctures, that's inevitable. Odds are, though, that they will be slow punctures. Punctures are easy to fix using seamseal (don't bother with patches for small punctures - save them for if you get a tear or large hole).

The seats are useless. I kneel to paddle, as if you sit on the floor you will sink into it and find that your legs are a few inches higher than your hips - so you are basically trying to paddle while holding a crunch, which is painful to say the least. Kneeling is very comfortable though.

It is extremely stable too. I use mine to fish from, and often anchor it in the river with a folding anchor and stand up in it to fly fish.

There is one small issue. In direct sunlight the PVC will expand and you will lose air pressure in the side chambers. DO NOT TRY TO ADD MORE AIR IF THIS HAPPENS. You will stretch the PVC and weaken it. The yellow Tahiti looks silly, but the yellow colour reflects more sunlight than the green one, so is slightly less susceptible to this phenomenon.

I've owned the green Tahiti K79 for a while. It is my least favorite inflatable kayak (I own 4 different ones with my favorite being the Stearns 1k-116). I bought it for my husband who is 6 ft. He said the seat was too small for him, so he turned it around and used it as a backrest. He never wanted to use the kayak again. Last fall I decided to use it on the Au Sable River so I could see if he was complaining for nothing.

I found the seat to be entirely too small to sit on. I had to keep trying to get my butt back on it. The side tubes are quite big so you expend more energy trying to reach over them. I had to paddle continually. Every time I stopped, the boat immediately did an about-face so I was facing backwards (no relaxing float here).

But the worst thing is that by the end of a 2 hour trip, one side tube as quite low on air. Obviously, I had a leak. I have since tried to find the leak but to no avail. I have emailed Sevylor twice to see what they can do for me. I'm still waiting for a response.

Need less to say, I'm not thrilled with the boat. Only two uses out of it and I'm ready to sell (if I can fix the leak). Maybe it would track better with 2 people in it, but I still would worry about it holding air. I'd much rather have a kayak with the nylon cover.

I have been paddling whitewater kayaks since they were 17 feet long and made out of fiberglass--which was a long time ago. I recently purchased two Tahiti's so that I could get my young children involved in riversport. I have been very impressed thus far. Most everyone makes the comment that the boats will not track without the skeg. This is correct, kayaks are not supposed to track straight. In whitewater you want them to turn on a dime, your life depends on it. These are, of course, not serious whitewater kayaks but the same rules apply, each stroke corrects the last stroke, Paddling is a skill and only time and experience will make this an effortless process. I did purchase the skegs to make it easier for my kids, but don't be fooled, any whitewater flat bottomed kayak will spin in circles under the control of an inexperienced paddler.

Other nice features of the Tahiti are as follows: It blows up in about 8 minutes start to finish. It holds me and one of my children perfectly, it draws very little and it deflates quickly. I haven't had it long enough to speak as to its durability, but for family fun, and as a launching point for riversport, I give it a big thumbs up!

I paddled a Tahiti down the better portion of 84 miles on the San Juan in Utah--Bluff to Clay Hills takeout. There is some class III here but most of the river is flatwater. This boat does not track well because it's not supposed to. A boat cannot be expected to turn on a dime, and also be expected to track well on flatwater. The Tahiti is designed for whitewater, and maneuvers like a whitewater boat should. You don't want to put the skeg on if you're doing many rapids because it will hinder your ability to avoid hazards. This is a good boat for anyone on a budget, but keep in mind that if you were to spend for an Aire Tomcat $550, you could get a boat 20 times better--but heavier. The Tomcat is more durable, bails itself without leaving you sitting in a puddle, and is more stable. It is so rigid that you can stand upright on the pontoons in flat or riffle water and paddle it like a gondola, and the boat will not bend even with all your weight in the center, provided that you have the balance to stand, of course. The Tomcat beats every inflatable kayak that Sevylor has to offer, even the River X series. Aire says the Tomcat tandem will hold 450 lbs, but I've put really close to 500 lbs and was still maneuverable in moderate whitewater--class II and III. Sevylor says their boat will hold a lot but it can really handle no more than a single person with moderate gear, and even with that you will be sitting in a puddle because it doesn't bail above the water line.

Will join the crowd here in noting that the Tahiti, at least the K79 HF (green/tan boat) we have, is a nice flatwater boat. It is a great extra boat that we carry with an AE Dragonfly2 to lakes and quiet rivers. Very stable and the seats are easily adjustable and comfortable to hold two under 5'8" or so, or one 6 footer and one under 5'. Not so great for two 6 footers or taller, but what would you expect on a kayak style boat not even 11 feet long?

Also agree that the skeg is an essential extra, and should be standard equipment with the boat, IMO! Our teen and her friends love the thing, and though they like the stealthy green and tan color boat and seats, we can now see that yellow might have been a better choice so we can easily SEE those teens way off in the distance on the lake!

Wish Sevylor would upgrade the valves to something like on the AE Dragonfly line, but the Tahiti is at a different, much lower price point and thus is more basic.

Just take care to loosen the "shoelace stitching" in the aft cover before putting in the skeg - the boat we bought used (but only in the water once) had a small tear in the aft cover where the skeg was forced in place. Easily taken care of with some GE Silicone2! In fact, I agree with the former owner, GE Silicone2 works well for patching this thing if patch kit isn't available. Patch in eve and ready to go next morning.

I have had the Sevylor Tahiti Pro for about 4 years now. I purchased it used from Orange Torpedo Tours in Oregon, who uses this boat on their guided tours of the Rogue and Klamath rivers. It is an excellent boat for the money. As mentioned in other reviews, it does not track all that great, but I have not used the skeg that Sevylor offers, and perhaps it will improve that. Also, it's a bit thin skinned. I have managed to put a couple of holes in it over the years.

That said, I have taken my little Tahiti Pro through some fairy hairy Class III whitewater and it is very stable, and rides the waves confidently. I have found it to be an excellent introduction to paddling. I particularly like the ability to roll it up, put it on a frame pack, and hike to wherever I want to paddle. Or I'll take it camping, or boat camping, and it takes up very little room. Of course, that is the beauty of inflatables in general. In response to a previous post about it being tippy, I found that to be the case as well, when I first got it, but after I started not filling the floor up as much, it became much more stable. I leave the floor just a bit soft too the touch, and pump the sides up until they are about as rigid as they'll get, and it works pretty good. I have no problem taking this boat through big water, but not through rock gardens or anywhere super shallow, because of the material thickness. I think it'd be fine on flat water as well if I use the skeg. The self-bailing feature works, but is a little bit on the slow side, and if you are flat water paddling with it, you will be sitting in a permanent puddle. But hey, for $150, you really can't go wrong with this boat. I love it. I'm looking to upgrade a bit right now for something a little more whitewater specific, but plan on hanging on to the old "Orange Torpedo" for many more years to come.

We have had our Tahiti now for just over a year and have found it to be much more fun that it should be. It does fit two with a squeeze (I am not tiny...) but with the smaller person in front with legs under the forward spraydeck we manage fairly comfortably. The olive green version we have is a lot easier on the eye than the bright yellow one too!

On the plus side it is light, incredibly compact (the whole thing fits into one sports bag), very stable if you are new to the water and above all comfortable. I have a bad back but find the inflatable seats really supportive. As Gary mentions below, if you are on your own you can stop, stretch out, lie back in comfort and let the world drift by.....

On the negative side, in windy conditions or on a lake where a stream enters it can feel like you are trying to paddle an inflatable elephant and is rather embarrassing as you rotate round and round to the amusement of all and sundry. The skeg does help to maintain a straight line and I would recommend you buy one with the boat. Also, don't bother with a fancy electric pump - the basic footpump has the boat up and running in less than 15 mins.

Don't expect the performance of a thousand pound (or dollar) touring kayak. It’s cheap, fun and got us both into kayaking. If you're unsure about kayaking and don't want to shell out a fortune for a hard kayak with all the associated extras then for the price it is a great buy. Having now been properly bitten by the kayak bug we are moving on to get hard kayaks but we will be keeping the Tahiti for those times when you need a boat that will fit into one sports bag.

Buy one and enjoy yourselves!

The Sevylor Tahiti first introduced me to kayaking and got me out on the water, so I will forever love it for that. It was only a couple of months before I wanted a boat that didn't always do donuts. I soon got the skeg for the boat, but still knew I could do better. My husband and I tried the boat tandem, which is painful even to think about. Wer'e both pretty small people, and one of us had the other's knees in our back, and had to squish our feet. I ended up resting my feet and legs on the sides. I was also able to bring the boat to the lake alone, inflate it in 5 minutes with the airpump, coax my dog into it, and we were off and on the lake in no time. It was all so nice until I tested a plastic sit-on-top. That's when I realixed I had been putting along in an old Honda when I could be in a Porsche. In comparison, I see that the high sides make paddling extra work because you have to lift the paddle high besides just paddling through the water. On the plus side, it was very inexpensive, very stable, felt safe as you could be, and my dog felt totally secure with the high walls. This is a great beginner boat.

I was a beginner when i got my tahiti about 2 years ago. When i first got it i thought it was great and i used it to explore a few lakes in my neighborhood(nothing more). But after a year when a got better a paddling and tryed going fast it never sayed straight and it took forever to get somewhere. This made for a really tiring trip. And with 2 tall people its not always a comfortable ride either because your feet are squished or used as and armrest. I've also had problems with holes, but its not as bad as my or sevlor raft which more like swish cheese. I've ordered a skeg for it which i hope will help the tracking but i doubt it. It's beyond hope. The only good thing is it is light, cheap, and compact. Find something else.

Sevlor Tahiti - Goldie my chihuahua and I have explored many rivers around Austin and enjoyed free concerts along Town Lake, Lake Austin, and Hippie Hollow at Lake Travis in our inflatable kayak. It fits in the trunk of my Toyota Solara and inflates in minutes with my Coleman rechargable air pump. Plenty of room for ice chest and I always carry a small anchor for stopping and swimming.

I've had my Sevylor Tahiti for more than a year now, and I have enjoyed the experience. Though I originally bought the inflatable to paddle around the several lakes to be found in the Prescott AZ area, I have also taken it down the Verde River. I found it to be highly maneuverable and surprisingly stable in Class 2 Rapids. It even makes a beginner look good. You can seat 2 mid-sized people with room for a cooler in the middle with storage room at both above & below the splashguards. The Tahiti has only 2 or 3 drawbacks. First, it feels very unstable during entry and exit. Second, it has trouble tracking & frequently wants to do doughnuts in the water when pushing the speed envelope. Third it is possibly the slowest of the inflatable class of kayaks. In spite of the above, its a great boat for beginners, and at a cost of less than $200 including paddles and pfds, its also great for those on a budget.