Product added to cart!
Product could NOT be added to cart!
My cart
Product Quantity Price
Totalt 0,00,-
varav moms 0,00,-
varav frakt 0,-
Töm varukorgen Visa varukorg
-
You are here:

British Ocean Paddler Magazine reviews the SeaCruiser

Publicerad: 2010.01.01 Uppdaterad: 2013.08.26 Av: Caroline Nilsson
Point65 Kayaks are a new entrant in the UK market, but are an established and popular Swedish manufacturer. Canoe Shops Group Ltd, the guys behind Bournemouth Canoes who supplied us with this demo boat, have recently started distributing Point65 kayaks in the UK, and we were keen to have a look at them, starting with this model, the Sea Cruiser.
According to Point65 Kayaks, the Sea Cruiser “… answers to the demands of daily paddling and expedition adventures alike.  It is bold in appearance as well as performance. The multi-talented Sea Cruiser is the well behaved friend you need at times when you want to feel comfortable and safe …This is a great touring kayak that offers reliable cruising capabilities for expedition paddlers while entry level paddlers will feel immediately comfortable with its stability …The Sea Cruiser tracks straight as an arrow with great glide and speed, keeping you dry even in rough seas. The slightly v-shaped hull makes it easy to manoeuvre and fun to play, while the tough 3-layer polyethylene construction makes it very light yet extremely strong, stiff and impact-resistant. Designed to engage as well as indulge, it offers thrilling performance on calm as well as rough water.”
 
So, taking a good look at the Sea Cruiser, it’s a sleek, angular, modern-looking design which features a slightly vee’d, Swede-form hull with rounded chines fore and aft that become harder chines in the centre of the hull. The waterline is kept relatively long by using small overhangs at the bow and stern. There is minimal rocker in the rear hull, and only slightly more in the front hull. The Sea Cruiser appears to be designed to track very well and paddle quickly. The bow is a sharp, angular affair when viewed from beneath, with minimal flaring. This looks like it will cut through the water nicely, but not provide a huge amount of lift over incoming waves. The stern, like the bow, is sharp and angular, with only a few inches of overhang, which is going to keep this boat on the straight and narrow; a skeg is provided to further assist and there is the option of a rudder as well. Through the centre of the hull, the slight v-shape means that this kayak is relatively flat, which should provide a good deal of initial stability, whilst the hard chine looks like it will kick in with plenty of secondary stability.
 
On the deck, the sleek, angular design is continued. The rear deck is low profile and virtually flat, with only a little curve introduced near the cockpit, where the twin day hatches are located; more on them in a moment. The front deck is chined from the cockpit to the front hatch, and flat from there onwards, giving the sharp, angular look. Neither the bow or stern feature much rise, and the sheerline of the Sea Cruiser is long and low; in essence a good description of the boat. The rear deck features the usual array of decklines and deck elastics, a large oval rear hatch and twin day hatches, side by side; one on the left and one on the right. The front deck, again, has the usual deckline and elastics, with a large oval front hatch, but doesn’t have a compass recess.

Inside the cockpit, there is a low slung plastic seat which allows a substantial backrest to fit in. Plastic, easily adjusted footrests are included. The noticeable absence from the cockpit, however, are thigh grips; these are not moulded into the cockpit design, nor added as an accessory. There were two different viewpoints from the various paddlers who tried the boat about the cockpit; if you fitted it, as a medium-large 80kg adult male does, then the boat fits well and the absence of thigh grips was not an issue, however if you were a smaller paddler the absence was an issue. Equally, the absence of any foam padding where your knees sit on the inside of the deck can become uncomfortable, though easily fixed with some sticky back foam once you’ve purchased your boat.
Once on the water, the Sea Cruiser sits comfortably and its stability is well balanced. The initial stability is accommodating for beginners, and its secondary stability provides a good solid position from which to control the boat. In terms of manoeuvrability, the Sea Cruiser is not the most manoeuvrable boat out there, due to it’s long waterline and minimal rocker fore and aft, however edge turning is solid and predictable, though you don’t get an immediate response from just dropping an edge. Holding an edge will result in a solid turn which you can feel cutting though the water. However, if you’re a smaller paddler, the absence of thigh braces means that you can’t really get a good grip on the boat, meaning you lose the ability to really control the edges; a must for this boat. Equally, when rolling the Sea Cruiser, the absence of thigh braces could be an issue to some.
 
Point65 reckon the Sea Cruiser tracks like an arrow, and they’ve got this spot-on. The Sea Cruiser tracks really well, in all seas, and doesn’t suffer too badly from the effects of a beam, or following sea. However because of its minimal rocker and long waterline length, when it does start to weathercock, it requires a solid, effective edge to get it back on track. The skeg is highly effective in these conditions.

When paddling in open swell, the fine lines of the boat, combined with the low profile bow, with its minimal flare does mean that the Sea Cruiser doesn’t lift over waves quite as well as those kayaks with large bows, but equally, it doesn’t come crashing down on the other side; it simply paddles through with the minimum of fuss. When surfing waves, there is a tendency for the front foot or so of the bow to bury, however this has little or no adverse affect on the handling of the boat, which remains solid.

In beam seas, and especially when paddling in confused clapotis, there is a tendency for waves to grab at the angular edges of the Sea Cruiser when they break or spill across the hull. This isn’t a huge issue, and most of the more experienced paddlers really enjoyed paddling the Sea Cruiser in these conditions, however less-experienced paddlers might not enjoy this as much.
 
The Sea Cruiser has sufficient carrying capacity for the vast majority of trips that sea kayakers
would undertake, and the large ovalised hatches allow larger items such as tents etc to go in easily. The two small day hatches weren’t to everyone’s taste; the foam bulkhead used to separate the two is quite thick and as a result, there isn’t much space in either of the hatches. However, it does mean that if you lost a hatch cover, or had to open a hatch on the open seas, you won’t flood as much of the boat; so it’s a split verdict from the jury on whether or not they’re a good idea.

The Sea Cruiser is manufactured in a 3-layer polyethylene construction, and as a result, the boat is fairly stiff and robust, and will easily take the knocks you throw at it. At 26kgs (before being outfitted), it’s relatively light; comparable with many composite boats.

In summary, a comfortable, fast, straight lining sea kayak. If you can edge turn well, then it’s relatively manoeuvrable. The absence of thigh grips means that you might not be able to grip the boat if you’re a smaller paddler, and perhaps Point65 should consider installing thigh grips. Very stable and confidence-inspiring in calm conditions, though smaller paddlers might struggle to keep control in rougher conditions; again, because the boat doesn’t have thigh grips. In rougher conditions, more experienced paddlers will enjoy paddling the Sea Cruiser and find it lively and fun. At it's retail price, the Sea Cruiser is well worth a look.
Point 65 Sweden
Headquarter:
Karlbergs Strand 4
SE-171 73 Solna, Sweden
Ph: +46 8 663 01 06
mail@point65.se