Profile

intermediate paddler at 6 foot 180lbs, high initial stability, tracks well - no need for a skeg, did not turn well for me - the keel stayed firmly in the water even on edge, this is the slowest close to 13' kayak i ve ever paddled, i think it might behave completely differently for a paddler around 130lbs, the weight savings of abs over pe are noticeable but not worth the increased fragility

intermediate paddler 6 foot 180lbs, bulletproof tank of a kayak, excellent old town quality, very high initial stability, even in the most confused water this kayak refuses to flip, only once with 3 foot following waves did it come close to flipping - but didn t. tracks like a train on rails, turns are ok on edge, meh if not on edge, speed is decent, both manouverability and speed suffer if you load up the front and rear hatches, i added a rudder (oem aluminum) and pivot type pedal controls (sealect) and a sail (falcon), sails beautifully with that bow to stern keel but without a daggerboard zero upwind capacity, i now prefer a simple back band and basic seat over the elaborate high back super comfy seat the castine comes with so it only gets used by guests now - i m confident anyone can safely paddle this kayak well with zero previous kayaking experience

intermediate paddler 6 foot 180lbs, fun little kayak, excellent initial and secondary stability, surprisingly fast for a 10' kayak, with the skeg up the kayak can do a full 360 in one paddle stroke a la whitewater kayak by slightly putting it on its rock solid edge, but tracks beautifully for a short kayak with the skeg down, any weight in the rear hatch ruins manouverability and speed, it s a whitewater / touring kayak hybrid that does both well, it has become my go to for a quick paddle

intermediate paddler 6 feet 180lbs, tried the fiberglass version for a test, wilderness system hit a home run with this pro version of the kayak, no longer made in fiberglass, if you find one buy it, good primary and excellent secondary stability, playful, turns well on edge, quick easy paddle, ergonomics are spot on, tracks well enough without even using the skeg, was so impressed by the kayak that i m trying to find one now

intermediate paddler 6' 180lbs, bought the rotomolded version 12r new as soon as it came out, obscene primary stability, i ve literally fallen asleep on this kayak, seat is very comfy, i actually prefer it over the vantage seat on my other hobie, kick up gt fins are deadly quiet, you can crawl up on wildlife, paddles like the door from titanic, zero secondary stability, think barge, doesn t like to go fast but cruises easily at a decent 3mph all day with zero effort, tried it with my other turbo fins, no use - hull shape likes 3mph - push it hard it can reach 6mph max but takes too much effort and the bow hops, any short period waves above 1 foot and the hull slaps so it gets super annoying in chop, had to upgrade the rudder to the larger version, original rudder would get overpowered with any current