I've used this kayak for about 100 hours since mid May 2018, and I absolutely LOVE how it skims across the water, it has zero surface friction, plenty of deck space and storage.. It's beautiful, sleek and I too get tons of questions and compliments. I like how lightweight it is, I can portage, load and unload it myself.
This kayak is perfect....EXCEPT for the "first class seat". Yes, it's comfortable, yes, it's adjustable, yes it's breathable, yes it's sturdy and can be used as a beach chair. Unfortunately, it renders the kayak so tippy that anything other than flat water is treacherous. Each wave on an average day on Lake Champlain must be seriously negotiated. I've had to straddle the craft with my legs dragging in the water to avoid being capsized, one time for over 2 hours. This was not in the broad lake, but in bays. What has SAVED this kayak for me, is removing the seat and using a standard stadium seat along with The Purple cushion. It's not ideal, and I'm sorely disappointed in the seat, but at least the kayak itself is superb.
The other kind of odd thing is the location of the cup holder. Even when using the first class seat, the cup holder is down around my ankles, and the mid deck cargo storage is where I would locate the beverage holder.
If I had to choose again, I would definitely purchase the skimmer again, but would select the regular Skimmer 116 without this seat.
Happy paddling everyone!
