Custom Kayaks 'Bullet"

Only just come across this ski in Rambo's video "california dreaming" just posted by Rob.

Tried to find more info on this ski from the custom kayaks website but very little real info.

Anyone know any of the ski's specs?

Looks very similar to a Carbonology Atom in terms of size?

Also noticed on thier website a comment they are working on an intermediate ski!

I have seen it, not paddled it though. It is a smaller ski, definitely not in the same character as the Synergy. In other words, not for the bigger paddlers.

It is about the same size at the Atom, but the bucket is not surrounded by high gunwales like the Atom. So it will be easier to remount. As for speed and stability, that I can't tell you, although I have heard that it is more stable than the Atom.

They've got a bit information about it on the custom kayaks blog. It's a nice looking ski.

I'm also interested in the proposed paddler weight range for this ski. I've never met Barry Lewin, but he doesn't look like a small guy so I'm guessing the bullet will be okay for larger padders.

Dingo Dave wrote:

They've got a bit information about it on the custom kayaks blog.

"A bit" is right, could only find a very short interview saying how the ski's were consistently under 12kg with the nice bright colours due to a new paint technology they are using to reduce weight. No specs, lay-up info or pics of the aspects and parts of the ski like footplate, seat, rudder.

I would hazard a guess that the ski would accomodate a larger or at least taller paddler. Barry relatively tall but Mark is about 6'5" at least hence the flexibility of the rest of their craft. I would assume though the bucket would be narrow based on how slick the boat is.

Paddled this ski yesterday at the U.S Surfski Champs demo day briefly.It's full size ski,a low profile deck/prow, narrow catch forward to bow much like the Fenn SL.I would say the sides around the cockpit are not quite as high as the Fenn Elite.Nice low ridge between seat and foot pedals.Huge scuppers if I remember correctly. Can't offer much on surfability or handling,Barry has the seat padded up a full inch and the steering was not lined up correctly when changed for me,so I was not feeling real comfortable in it.Nice looking boat.

Consolidated feedback on the Bullet from myself and 2 other friends who have paddled it. Interestingly the 3 of us fit into the small/ medium/ large size category, so our comparisons were very interesting. We all currently paddle Fenn Elites.
- stability is similar to most top end skis, maybe slightly more stable than the Fenn Elite
- the bucket is quite narrow, and at 1.85m and 90kg it was too tight for me to sit in comfortably without a couple of butt pads. The other 2 guys at about 77kg and 65kg were very comfortable without having to use butt pads.
- flat water speed is good, subjectively similar to the Fenn Elite
- the feeling was that it required more effort to get onto runs than the Elite, but once on the run it held it very nicely and was responsive and controllable. The smallest of us, in particular, loved its performance in downwind runs
- while the nose is lower in volume than the Elite, its performance both upwind and downwind in keeping the nose out was good, with no real problems with excessive burying of the bow.
In summary we felt it was a good ski, well worth considering, but probably more suited towards lighter (or at least slimmer) paddlers. There are some bigger guys (like Barry) paddling them, but Barry has his bucket heavily padded up and sits high, so the width isn't as much of an issue.