Prodigy II 14.5

Love this tandem! So, fair disclosure, I'm a novice kayaker but not an idiot and very athletic. Daughter got a Scimitar recently and gave me the bug to finally get into the sport. A tandem was a must because I wanted something my wife and I could do as a couple. First boat I bought was a used Old Town Loon 138t. BIG MISTAKE! I'm 6'0" with a 34" inseam. Wife is 5'9". It was so cramped for us both I can't even describe it. The Loon 138 as a tandem is an afterthought at best, and a poor one at that. Rear seat position has no foot pegs. Rear paddler has to wrap their feet around the back of the front seat. Front seat position locks into place with nylon thumb screws on smooth support shafts? SERIOUSLY? Front paddler can barely get into their seat. Cockpit only 17" wide. Tracking was just so-so. What a joke! Thankfully bought it for only $300. Sold it after only 5 times out for $525. That plus another $100 got me a a used Sunburst Prodigy II 14.5 with a pair of matching 230cm Carlisle Magic Plus paddles. The difference is so huge I just had to leave this review. To say it's roomy enough is an understatement. To say it's intelligently designed is also an understatement. To say it paddles like a dream, there are no words to describe. If you're looking for a tandem, I can't recommend this model enough. Worth every penny. Even new. ;-)

been out on a small lake twice - once solo, once tandem. Wind was 10+ mph both times. Tandem if in windy/choppy conditions it seemed more tippy but did not capsize or swamp so I'm not sure if that's a problem or just the people in boat.

The Perception tracks fairly strait in the wind but I find the rudder to bee a big help. I'm not sure if experience will render the rudder unnecessary or not. The seats are extremely adjustable fairly comfortable I'm still playing with them to find the sweet spot.

I bought this tandem to take my kids paddling on the Charles River. My 9-year old sat in front and my 5-year old sat in the jumper seat between us. The jumper seat is just a foam chair, like a Crazy Creek chair, and does not fasten to the kayak.

The boat is heavy and a tough carry for one person. I ended up getting a Paddleboy trailer for the portages.
The seats are comfortable. The front seat slides forward and back on rails to make room.
The bulkhead on the back is just big enough to hold some supplies.
The boat is wide, so it's stable. That's a good trait when you have two kids on board.

With any kayak this big, wide and heavy, maneuverability is not one of its strengths. It lumbers, but not as poorly as I thought. I spent most of the time paddling in the back with little effort from my crew upfront. That worked just fine paddling down the slow moving Charles River.

Wanted to try kayaking but was concerned as I was @320lbs. Found this site and checked out reviews of tandems available to rent. So my nine year old daughter and I climbed into a 14.5 Prodigy II and began to paddle.

Wow...heck of a lot easier than a canoe! My seat was comfortable and the cockpit more than wide enough for my 6'2" frame. At this leg space was ample between mine and the front seat. First time kayakers....we soon fell into a nice rhythm.

The yak is lower to the than a canoe and at no time did we take water over the side or rock too far side to side in the wakes of the tour boats (no wake area on Chicago River). Stability was great and tracked nicely once we got in sync with our paddling stroke. Eventually my nine year old got tired and we stowed her paddle.

I solo paddled the 1.5 miles back to the launch in this tandem...and enjoyed doing it the whole way. The extra length of the boat and weight up front and this continued to track better than the solos I was seeing waddle around in the river.

I recommend this yak to anyone with a family...especially small kids that may not paddle for the whole outing. As for my size...not squeezing into something that was too small for me was way cool. I've lost 40 lbs since that first outing last year and tried other yaks. I won't hesitate to buy this model when the right price comes along.

I wanted a Rec boat that was not a sit on top. After doing the research I chose this one. I got it with the rudder from ACK for a good deal. Love it.

It has nice lines and color. I chose the one that was a double fade Red to Mango and it came Triple Fade Red to Yellow to Mango, nice. The seats looked so very comfortable and they are... large, well padded and there is even a behind-the-thigh support adjustment. The system for sliding the front seat back and for moving the rudder foot control forward for a single paddler is awesome and easy to use. The boat is so much faster than a SOT which is what I was looking for. It can carry a ton of gear for camping trips. It tracks well without the rudder. The rear compartment is large and stays dry. Its not too long or heavy. It has a sacrificial drag block at the end of the keel which is a great idea and saves the boat lots of damage and me lots of stress.

It's a 10 out of 10 for a plastic tandem 14.5' boat.