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I absolutely love this paddle: much of an improvement over Akiak. Light, slices in the water like a knife, and a joy to use. Only one thing keeps me from giving this paddle 5 stars: during a rescue practice for solo re-entry, I rigged the paddle under my deck lines for support. The whole tip assembly started coming out: not just the tips that screw in, the whole plastic piece that is attached to the carbon. It happened multiple times, until I finally superglued it, and now it stays.

This fiberglass boat is extremely pleasing to the eye and the craftsmanship on it is absolutely outstanding. I've never seen a better made boat. The attention to detail really shows: the perfect finish of the exterior and the interior, a very comfortable ergonomic seat, solid foot braces, bone dry hatches, comfortably shaped cockpit, and a conveniently located turn dial for deploying the skeg. The outside seam is perfectly straight and sports an attractive pattern found nowhere else.

The boat handles very well in all weather conditions and is excellent for touring because of its predictability, high speed, and high volume hatches that accommodate a lot of gear. It has good primary and secondary stability, and the unique reversed chine design allows for easy edging. At 51 lbs and 17' long it maintains good balance between weight, length, and speed. The low back deck minimizes weathercocking.

There are a couple of downsides. It doesn't track well without the skeg, which is easily fixed by keeping the skeg slightly dropped. The front hatch is recessed but doesn't have channels to let the water drain. This is not a problem with the rear hatches, because the whole back deck is flush, therefore there is no place for the water to gather.

Overall a great boat that I would highly recommend.

I've been researching the composite Eliza for 18 months and was almost ready to buy it until I finally got an opportunity to try it out. I was very disappointed.

The craftsmanship is mediocre. The skeg wire is run right through the middle of the rear bulk head, which is bound to interfere with using it for touring. The front bulk head seams aren't properly sealed for the last foot of the boat's length starting at the bow. In order to see it, you literally need to put your head into the hatch and look. The overlapping unsealed fiberglass edges are bound to either catch the gear that you pack, or start coming apart as a result of pulling the gear out. Finally, the thigh braces foam was coming off on a brand new boat.

The cockpit is designed for women with narrow hips. I'm 5'6" and 135 lbs with average hip width, and my hips barely cleared the cockpit coaming. I paddle in the winter using a drysuit, so I know I wouldn't fit into this boat while wearing bulkier clothing. Also, the cockpit is short, which causes shin scraping when entering and exiting the boat for a person with long legs. The seat lacks hip support, so when you put the boat on edge, your hips shift onto one side. Given the above issues, it is a boat for a petite paddler, not so much a medium sized.

The boat is light, very maneuverable, and tracks well. It is also a few hundred dollars cheaper than other boats of comparable size, like Impex Montauk, P&H Capella 161, or Current Design Willow. Provided you fit into the cockpit and don't mind the chintzy craftsmanship, it can be a nice boat.