Keeping in mind Im a novice, Ill give it my best shot of a review.
Pretty stable at 2.7m, quite impressed, even in some bow waves from a stinker, it was still very stable. Water came up to 40 -50 mm below the floor in the scuppers, and never any further, even through bow waves and a few small waves in the bay. Perfect size cockpit for me being 5'10, knees very slightly bent, felt very comfortable. A tiny bit of water was in the foot well from paddling, and about 2 tablespoons of water got into the seat area, I first noticed this when I was in the bay, I lifted one leg up abit to look in the back scupper to see if thats where the water was coming in, and the yak tipped to one side and I thought I was going to be testing out my lifejacket, but the yak never tipped, just a slight weight difference from lifting my butt cheek. Easy to paddle, just have to practice my paddling so as to use the blades correctly to get full thrust from them. I first was paddling with the blades about 1.5 feet out from the yak on each side, then pulled them in to the hull so the blades were 3 inches from the hull and keeping the paddle more in an upright postion per stroke, and I noticed the yak felt really good, started making good speed and was even creating bow waves..The deluxe padded seat that wavedance gave me (A new design they just got in recently) felt really good, pulled the straps up so it hugged my back. The fibreglass shaft paddle was nice and light and I had no problems with it. The yak tracked good, but with power strokes the nose went from left to right about 1 foot with the strokes, but still easy to keep moving in a straight line. I took a rod with me with a frenzy lure just to try out the rod holders, flicked the lure around on numerous spots on the water way to no avail...but I wasnt there to fish...I was there to test the yak...was speaking to bloke fishing from the bank, which turned out to be FORBSEY from this forum, so good to meet you forbsey, hope you ended up catching some fish. There was a little bit of slap on the bow from small ripples on the water, but it didnt effect the handling, while drifting, the wind was pushing me around a bit, but an anchor would fix that problem...well, it wouldn't be a problem in PPB, just in the patto it was a bit frustrating having to paddle back to the centre of the river every 4 mins. With the yak weighing only 17 KG was easy to lift from the car to the water and back again, probably wouldn't need a trolley, except a trolley would be easier for beach launches so you can load the yak up with rods and buckets and stuff, then just wheel it all down in one go....so there it is...I know its not a hobie or a king fisher, but its my first yak and I could afford it...when I become more experienced, I will get a hobie or something with a great reputation..all in all very good for $550. If I had to name a dislike, I would say that at 2.7m long it isnt a very fast yak and the wind tends to blow it around abit, but for what I want it for its perfect, Im only going to be exploring the coast line from frankston to safetybeach. Out of 10 with my novice skills ... I'll give it 8/10.
