Triak Sailing Kayak Review
I have been using this sailing kayak off the New England coast and bays for 2 years now and I cannot say enough about how versatile and fun this boat has been , whether you are coming from a kayak background or sailing background this boat will keep you entertained. Everyone who sees it comments on how sleek it looks and that they have never seen anything like it.
Versatility
The ability to be out sailing in the ocean and paddle once the wind drops off gives you a lot more confidence and flexibility to go long distances, I find during a long day trip if the wind is light a combination of sailing and paddling works well and allows you to sail closer to wind and cover a long distance. The stability of the pontoons gives you the flexibility to fish, relax, jump out and swim also providing more confidence for the longer open water passages between islands when the waves can kick up.
Sailing
You can consistently sail at 7 knots with a good breeze, after 8-9 knots the pontoons start to submerge on a breach run but fly’s along downwind. It’s quite amazing how well the boat handles in rough seas and swells and has a very dry cockpit that will only get water in if there are breaking waves and only then do you need a spray skirt. The foot controlled steering and rudder is exceptional and you can maneuver the boat at speed very precisely. The roller furling main sail is flawless and quick to open and close, the spinnaker can be raised and dropped quickly and pulled into the chute bag. You just need to make sure the spinnaker halyard is tight when you unfurl the main sail so it does not wrap around the mast.
Kayaking
The boat has a slightly heavier construction than conventional fiberglass sea kayaks to withstand the sailing forces and with the weight of the wing it takes a little more paddling to get moving, but once moving the sleek hull and pontoon design will cruise along at 4-5 knots and is easily steered.
Stowage
The hatch stowage space is substantial, you can easily fit enough supplies for a week or more camping trip and take extra luxuries for a weekend camping trip. You just need to take a small folding dolly with you since it is slightly too heavy to carry above the high tide line but can be easily moved on a small dolly up a sandy or pebbly beach. Note that this boat is a lot lighter than most other sailing kayaks.
Transport
The Triak can be lifted on a roof rack with the help of a rear rolling roof rack by one person, the pontoons, sail and wing can be quickly tied to the roof rack.
Rigging
Attaching the wing, pontoons, keel and mast will take 7 to 10 mins , then rigging the sails will take another 5-10 mins, It’s pretty straight forward once you get the sequence down. So from car to water is usually 15 mins.
Improvements
The build quality is very good, the only improvement that you may want to make is to stiffen up the rudder mounting bracket, if you do a lot of hard sailing there is a lot of force on the bracket and it would help to add a stiffener across the top of the bracket to reduce the flex. Also if you add a 4ft long lightweight plastic tube on the halyard down line it helps to roll the spinnaker over the line when tacking.
