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Writing this review based on myself whom is a 6ft 150kg male.

The islander fiesta is a Kayak well suited for paddling on sheltered, slow moving, or calm waters. For a short Kayak are a little over 9ft in length it tracks well. It was a stated max weight of 130kg so I was surprised at how well it was still able to perform with an extra 20kg of weight added.

1. Design - The particular kayak I purchased was from Islanders recycle line. whereby the off cuts from other kayaks are reused. This gives the kayak a brown colour but knowing that the company is taking steps to minimise waste is nice to see. The Kayak is Rota-mouldered from HDPE giving it good strength throughout with just the right amount of flex when required. It comes with a small amount of bungie on the aft and bow to hold small items like a bilge pump or small dry bag but not suitable for too much cargo.
2. Outfitting - The seat is moulded into the design of the kayak with a simple padded back rest supplied. The foot pegs are adjustable with long reaching handles for adjustment meaning you can adjust while sat in the kayak, I did have issues with this design of footrest not securing in place resulting in the pedals slipping down the rail when pressure was applied. Contacting Islander about this issue I was told to contact Palm equipment instead. To forgo a back and forth I just found the position I liked and used a metal fastener to secure it in place.
3. Handling - for a short boat the Fiesta tracks surprisingly well. I am able to get to a good speed without too much effort required but It does struggle to turn as well as I would have hoped for a smaller boat. This could simply be down to the fact that the kayak was well beyond its maximum weight capacity but the results were the same with a smaller paddler.
4. Price - RRP of £469 means that this comes in about on par with other kayaks in this range (perception Sundance, Riot quest 10HV) it competes well and while my outfitting issue I can only hope was a one off I still feel that the overall experience gained from this kayak would suit those looking to enjoy nice day trips on their local canals or rivers.

Overall, This kayak has served me well paddling on tidal rivers, canals and when the weather has been right on the sea too. It has been a pleasure to use and its small size and lighter weight makes storing it and loading it onto my car much easier than my 10ft (surprising how much a few kg in weight does make) I would recommend this Kayak to any one looking to enjoy the British waterways.