Tracer 165

Great yak. I used to paddle Sydney Harbour from Parramatta around Fort Denison and back. It has speed, and is stable for a user with a little technique and experience. Ive been in some good seas with this yak and it is very stable. Ive had a another boat, a Nautilus that was way more stable but had little speed. Thats what you trade for, stability or speed, tge more speed the less stable. Ive been up the Hawksbery river in this and was impressed greatly. It was loaded to the gunwalls, and felt ever more stable. In short a great touring Yak with clean lines and a turn of speed. Great boat and highly recomended. Cheers.

I am 6'1" 190lbs with a 33" pant length, strong paddler. My g/f also has one, she is 5' 125lbs and says initial stability is great, but has to use ballast on windy days. We love the boats and as far as Trylon goes that stuff is tough! I was carrying my Tracer on my shoulder, fell off a dock onto a stone boat launch and face planted into the cockpit. The Tracer suffered scuffs, that's it! I am giving the Tracer a 10.

A great little boat which is easy to handle off the water and a great fun boat for protected waters. First timers may want a bit more initial stability. Secondary stability seems good. If you are in a confused chop the kayak seems very unsteady and was no where near as reassuring as other boats I have paddled. It seems to handle bigger waves better than chop. The hatch covers go on and off almost too easily and I wondered how secure they were at sea during capsize or rolling.

In short a great boat with its light weight and maneuverability for protected waters but you should have another for the tough stuff. I have rated it 8 but would be 9 in quiet water and a 6 in the rough stuff.

Don't get conned first time buyers!! Kayaks made out of thermoformed plastic are nothing but cheap rubbish that cost the earth and deliver very little. They are good for one thing though. You can depress the centre of the hull with your hand and make them sound like a Rolph Harris wabble board.

I'm a beginner, so I wasn't trying execute rolls or anything and have a pretty good feel for what I want out of a kayak.
Now that I've qualified myself...

The Hurricane Tracer 165 is a good boat I think for the price. The Thermoformed ABS is my favorite material, and although there was some flex in the hull when pressing down on the back, it felt solid. The cockpit was snug. I'm not a fan of the seat as it would get uncomfortable fast, and the foot pegs are hard to adjust. I needed to get out of the boat to adjust them. This wouldn't be a problem though if you own this boat, because you probably won't be changing the foot pegs at all.

On the water, it does feel a little unstable. The wind had picked up for a time and I don't think the boat was too affected by that. It is definitely maneuverable, and just a little bit of skeg changed that. It wasn't sluggish, but its not a racer either.

Overall, as I said above this is a good boat for the price. Its very entry level. I think it provides a good platform to learn from. If I had been wearing immersion gear in the wind and current of my test paddle, I would've felt more confident about putting it through the paces a bit more.

The boat edges well and is great to have in surf of 3ft. waves. I have not done larger than that but will soon (just waiting on conditions to be right). I don't understand the complaints for the uncomfortable seat that I have been seeing - I'm 5'10" 165 lbs. and this boat fits me great.

The greatest feature of this boat I must say is the drop skeg. Very simple to control and it makes a world of difference for me when I'm out on Lake Michigan. If you're looking for a fast entry level sea Kayak I highly recommend the Tracer. I plan to be keeping mine for many years to come.

I was actually quite shocked how maneuverable this boat is, I have an Expedition Sport as well and there is no comparison. The Tracer seems to really offer the best of both worlds. With the skeg up you can carve and turn with great ease, with it down you go as straight as an arrow.
I don't see myself looking to replace it any time soon.

For some novices paddlers it maybe too big a jump to go from a beamy rec boat to a sea kayak. So far, it working out really well for me and I love the boat. It will probably be the last boat I buy.

Note to others thinking of taking up kayaking from my experience: Take lessons FIRST before buying a boat, preferably from 2 different sources. Go to all the local store demo days and try every rec and touring kayak they have. Can't decide? Rent a boat you are interested in for a weekend. Try a Hurricane Tracer, I think you'll like it.

I've had mine since May 2007 and have no plans to move into another kayak any time soon. I purchased it in mint condition from a friend who had it for a very brief period of time because he wanted to try it out. I consider myself an intermediate paddler, actively in the sport for more than five years. I upgraded to the Tracer from a Carolina 16.

If you're new to kayaking, the Tracer may not be the most stable boat for you. It's better suited to paddlers looking for the next step in a performance sea kayak after becoming comfortable in their first kayak.

That said, I've read many reviews that criticize the Tracer's tracking. This kayak is maneuverable, considering its size. You can make quick turns, spin around and do many things you can't with comparable sea kayaks. If you want to paddle in a straight line -- and you've got a bit of wind -- drop the skeg to your liking and your so-called tracking problem is solved. Good technique makes for good tracking with any kayak. It's also quite speedy. My wife tells me I have two speeds with the Tracer -- bored and fast.

I've paddled the Tracer extensively in varying conditions in Southwest Florida, both in open water and back waters on short and longer trips. The Tracer's profile makes it well suited to most conditions. It handles big waves well. If anything, the kayak's maneuverability makes it more forgiving in confused seas, sloppy seas or challenging currents and quick-changing conditions. I have not paddled the kayak fully loaded for trips.

The Tracer is relatively light and made of Trylon. I load mine alone with relative ease. The previous owner added a thin foam liner inside the cockpit for additional padding under the deck. I added Wilderness Systems hip pads, which make a big difference in fitting the boat around you (especially if you're a smaller, thinner paddler). The pads help me feel like I'm wearing the kayak, which affords more control.

Overall, the Tracer is a solid, performance kayak for people who cannot afford more expensive brands.

I have had my eye on the Tracer 165 for some time after trying the Tampico 135L, which is a great boat, fast, stable and comfortable. I like the way you can adjust the foot rest on the fly without having to be out of the boat on the Hurricane’s. When I went to pick up the Tracer, having seen it only in small internet pictures, I wasn’t sure what it looked like up close. When it was pointed out to me I about fell over. The pictures do NOT do it justice, it looks fast sitting still.

I have paddled six different kayaks before this one and after reading all the reviews posted here, I had a few concerns, after all I still consider myself to be a novice. When setting off, the wind was blowing and the waves were a little on the large size. The Tracer seemed tippy and was suffering some weather cocking so I couldn’t get it going very fast. Time to try out the skeg I thought and after dropping it down the weather cocking went away like flipping a switch but it was still a little tippy. I thought I would be taking a swim and practicing my wet entries a few times before the day was up. There are a lot of big boats making big waves where we’re at and some of them like to try to sink you. Once I saw one large boat going out of his way to head right toward me. As he got close, he turned his boat and gunned it and I heard one of them say, "That should sink him." Every time a boat would go by leaving a big wake, I would think, "This could be it." After a half hour in the Tracer I found myself looking for big waves, the bigger the better. My tippy feeling was gone, I feel, thanks to the perfectly placed thigh supports. It’s amazing how much control I had over the Tracer using them. I’ve used them in other kayaks but never with such good results as with this one. I could lean the Tracer over like my sport bike and it would just pop right back up. By the end of the day I was thinking it an impossible task to tip that thing over and if you did, it would probably roll you back up so fast you wouldn’t know you went down.

I found the tracking is very good and when the skeg is up it turns very quickly especially when on the top of a good size wave. The Tracer is so light that after stopping at the shore for a quick snack, you can just pick it up and turn it around and you’re ready to go, without any help. The short of it is, don’t just take it out for a quick spin, you’ll never have enough time to fully appreciate it. Spend some time in it, but bring your check book, you may not want to bring it back.

The only problems I found with it was the seat, after being in it four hours straight, it became a little uncomfortable. (Was having too much fun to get out) Easy fix with a seat pad. And although it has a 325lb weight capacity, it’s very slim and sleek not giving it much room for a lot of stuff. For these two things I deducted 1 point. I think it’s a great kayak that anyone would love, unless its your first time out, you may want to try more of a beginner kayak.

First: I LOVE the boat. Everyone loves their new boat. But I already have several, so I don't have to 'love' this boat. But I do. Yes, yes, it does yaw a bit and weather cock a bit in calm water--totally eliminated by just a little skeg. I was concerned about the posts about this as I waited for shipment. But I understand why this is so--it is (duh) a consequence of the design of the hull. It is a sea kayak, and it was obviously designed to excel in rougher conditions. I've had mine out in a variety of conditions in just short time I've had it. Yesterday I headed into a 15-20 knot head wind, 2-3 rolling waves on the Indian River and it was GREAT! Love the hull design--it spears (only word for it) through waves and was tremendously stable in this bad weather (raining/nasty and all). *The other day I had it on the Banana River in calm conditions and it needed a little skeg. Yesterday in bad weather it wasn't necessary until heading home with a following sea. What a great boat.

Very good construction. I may have given the impression that I'm able to buy boats on a whim when I said I had several. Not so. So I value good build quality. I love Hurricane's plastic/Trylon composition. It's 2 1/2 feet longer than my Manitou but 3 lbs lighter. And it is very durable. With less UV damage to worry about, I may never get another type of boat (less you give me one or I win one!).

Very maneuverable, turns on a dime, and I think it's handling characteristics will even change again when loaded. I've never paddled it (or my Manitou for that matter) loaded as a long marathon paddling day trip so far is the extent of my travels. But I bet the Tracer gets even more stable with some weight in her holds. I think I'll toss a sack of rocks in there once just to see.

I love my Tracer 165.

Good Points: Light weight, Good looks, Good secondary stability, Great value, Durable/easy maintenance (can still beat it up like a plastic boat but get weight/stiffness of a composite). Very responsive. Great glide (percieved by both me and paddle partners)

Negatives: Hatches let "mosisture" in -certainly don't flood but not bone dry either when edging/rolling. I had a small crack in mine where the skeg control is (fixed well with epoxy/glass) -I think it was damaged during shipping but noticed well after I took delivery.

Not so much a good/bad thing but this boat weathercocks (2005 model) substantially. The skeg does a good job of controlling the weathercocking and I can even steer the boat to weathercock or leecock in broaching winds.

I certainly do not have any doubts that buying this boat was a good decision and expect it to be in my fleet for a long time.

As the boat is a 2003 model it did not have a skeg installed and supposedly has more rocker than the newer models (both of my other boats have some rocker, one considerably more than the Tracer so I'm a bit perplexed by the concern voiced by some reviewers). However, based on my experience with unruddered or skegged boats with rocker, and reviews here and elsewhere and advice from an aquaintence who has a Tracer, I decieded to it would be wise to add some tracking assistance over the winter.

I obtained and installed an Ocean Kayak rudder and Sealine foot braces with toe controls. Turns out to be a worthwhile investment.

My experience to date indicates the following: The Tracer is a well made, easily manoeverable kayak. The cockpit is generously sized making it fairly comfortable for a 6'1" 196#, size 11 shoe, not so limber 57 year old man to get in and out. The seat is nothing special but seems reasonably comfortable after several excursions. The way the seat is installed will allow easy modifcation (moving it fore or aft an inch or two either way) or removale and replacement.

Primary stability will feel a mite twitchy to those coming from wider rec. boats or SOTs. However that is just a matter of perception. It's primary stability is a about what you'd expect for a boat of this type and design. A friend of mine summed it up by saying it felt a little more tippy than his Cappella, but less tippy than his Sirus. It's secondary stability kicks in as you take the boat up on edge and seems fairly solid (I still have some learning to do in this area so be advised)

The boat is very manoeverable with the rudder up - you can turn it quickly. You need to mind your forward stoke to stay straight. It does have a tendency to weathcock easily. With the rudder down it's a different story, the boat tracks well, responds quickly to the smallest rudder corrections, and still turns well. Winds on the stern quarter are no longer problematic. Deploying the rudder does not seem to add any appreciable drag maybe due to the rudder blade's foil shaped cross section and limited wetted surface (it's short).

The boat seems to glide fairly well and has a fair turn of speed. It might not be the fastest 16 to 17 foot long sea kayak out there, but it's not the slowest either.

What I like so far: Cost; Material (Trylon seems very rugged and scratch resistant); Weight (at about 50# it's easy for me to cartop single handed); Fit & finish; Ease of paddling

Minor complaints: Cockpit combing rim is close to the deck making it difficult to use sprayskirts with thick rands or bungees. I had to modify the bungee knot on one of my spray skirts to get it to fit. No thigh braces - not a big issue for me as with my size and leg length I can brace my knees under the deck at the cockpit rim edge. Could be a big problem for a smaller paddler. I will add foam to get a more secure fit for my knees. Front bulkhead position is way too far forward. I have long legs (34" inseam) and on my other boats have my foot braces on the furtherst stop. Not so with the Tracer - there is at leat a foot between my foot pegs and the front bulkhead. I can streach out my legs full length and still can't reach the bulkhead (lot of extra water volume to pump during resuce practice,etc).

Final word - this is a great boat for the money. Even at full MSRP it's a bargain. If price were THE major rating factor I'd give it a 10!

Fit and finish are only so-so: there are other boats assembled with more care -- but not at the Tracer's low price.

Performance is good. The Tracer is fast and turns well, but it's a little short on primary stability: it may not be the best choice for beginners.

In our household, the Tracer is my boat, while my wife paddles a fiberglass Current Designs Solstice GTS. Fit and finish on the Solstice is better, and it's a prettier boat. The Solstice (for almost a thousand dollars more) is faster and holds a line better, but it's much harder to turn. The Tracer turns more readily, and it's a bit lighter. I prefer the Tracer's skeg to the Solstice's rudder. The Tracer's more fun; the Solstice is the boat I'd take on a long-distance trip with headwinds.

For some reason, I can roll the Solstice more easily than I can roll the Tracer. I can bring the Solstice back up most of the time with a sweep roll. With the Tracer, my sweep roll usually fails, and I have to resort to a Pawlatta roll (which is slower but has more leverage).

All in all, I like the Tracer and think it's a great value. I'll give it a "9" for now. If the folks at the factory will stop daubing the adhesives on with such a heavy hand, I might raise that to a "10."

To any of my kayak-shopping friends on a budget, I'd say, "Put the Tracer high on your list."