Hi everyone,
Thought I'd post this here on the off chance that more surfskiers are from SA and might be more familiar with the Kayak Centre manufacturer.
I'm a UK marathon flat water paddler looking to buy a new flatwater/river race boat. My choices have been whittled down to;
-Vadja Infusion 2 - River Construction (>10kg)
-Kayak Centre Raid - Marathon construction (~8kg)
I was also looking at Nelo but I just don't like the fact everyone has them, they will for sure be good boats but maybe not for me.
I picked out these two boats because
- good stability
- lighter than my existing boat
- new design (compared to my winged lancer).
From testing them this is what I got;
Vadja Inf II
Good
- Stable enough for marathon
- nice set up, fits well
- Like the finish, build quality, modern fittings
- Solid construction
Not so Good
- Very sharp nose, felt this wont deal well with collection of crap on front
Kayak Centre Raid
Good
- Lighter construction (by 2kg) for the same price as the Vadja
- Very stable
- Interesting partial V-shaped hull at front
- Recently won a load of stuff including World Marathon Champs with Hank McGregor (so it cant be slow even if it is super stable).
- Design input from Hank, who says it handles really well on wash, turning and pretty much everything else.
- Seemed to fit well
Not so good
- Construction is a bit dated, still using foam pillars at the rear of the boat as a method of reinforcement
- No modern seat fittings, still using gees molded type seats..
- Not sure they provide proper pull bars (just straps)
- Bit worried about how fast it is (was hard to judge for me) since it was so stable (but again Hank did win a shit load in this boat).
Would appreciate any advice on these boats, even just general boat purchasing advice in general. I think whatever I decided it will be a good boat regardless.
www.kayakcentre.co.za/raid.html
www.vajdagroup.com/gen_page.php?menu=1&catalog_item_id=60