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Rave reviews for Whisky 16 by SeaKayaker Magazine

Publicerad: 2013.09.04 Uppdaterad: 2013.09.05 Av: Caroline Nilsson
JK: Day trip. Winds to 10 knots, waves to 11/2 feet. No Cargo. MC: Day trip. Winds to 15 knots. Following seas and variable seas with large waves against the tide-race current during a brief storm. Cargo 15 pounds. GL: Day trips. Winds to 15 knots, waves to 2 feet. 45 pounds of cargo.



First Glance
The Whisky 16 is “a well built, nicely finished sea kayak with pleasant unassuming styling. The build quality was excellent. The interior of the kayak was smooth and the deck hardware is smooth on the underside to avoid snagging” (MC). “Carbon fiber layup seems light; the hull feels solid, but the sides in places flexes inward a bit. Inside the seam is glassed in entire length; end pores as well” (GL). JK saw that the location of “the front bulkhead can be seen in the gel coat, but the Whiskey 16 seems fairly well made.”
JK noted the carbon fiber Whisky 16 is “rather light” and while he found it “nose heavy and therefore a little hard to balance during a solo carry,” MC found it fit “perfectly on the shoulder” and GL described it as a “light, well-balance, easy shoulder carry. “For assisted carry, the handgrips are comfortably large and slightly tapered to fit the hand. The grips retract when not in use” (MC).
JK felt “secure in the cockpit. The keyhole is long and narrow and my knees make good contact with the padded underside of the deck.” The cockpit fit MC “nicely. The keyhole opening was only wide enough for one knee at a time to enter and had the capability to scrape your shin if not done gracefully. The front day-hatch storage compartment actually improved the comfort or fit by providing an alternate bracing point.” GL found “the cockpit opening is a bit on the short side. I could, however, sit down and bring the legs in one at a time. The foredeck is moderately high and my size 12 mukluks fit, though my heels touched. A little extra room in the hips could be easily padded out. Height of rear coaming is too high for laybacks without coming well out of the seat. Overall, I loved the fit.”  

The composite seat is “rather flat and unpadded. It was adequately comfortable but felt short and offered no thigh support” (JK). MC would have preferred some paddling on the seat; it “ became somewhat uncomfortable after spending a day on the water. For GL however, “the seat has some contour and was completely comfortable. It bends uNigel Fosterp to the sides to a bucket for good support. The backband is fairly stiff, padded and works great. The combination worked perfectly for paddling, edging and rolling. The narrow keyhole allows for superb thigh bracing—great contact spread across thigh and knee.” “The thigh bracing is somewhat unique in that you can brace your knees either spread or together, with both producing good control: spot-on in comfort, control, and security” (MC). “The foot pedals flex a bit but are secure enough. They adjust by turning a rod below the paddler’s knee to free the pedal, sliding the pedal with a toe, and turning the rod back to lock the pedal in place” (JK). GL and MC found them “solid.”
The Whisky has “recessed fittings throughout in a thoughtful deck layout. A spare breakdown paddle can fit on stern and bow. Grab lines are in short segments, nicely spaced” (GL). JK prefers “the usual arrangement of perimeter lines but I still had enough to hold onto.”
“There is no rudder on the Whiskey 16 but the rear deck was made with ports for cables for an optional rudder. Its skeg is placed very far aft, which is nice when packing for a trip but dramatically reduces the effectiveness of edged turns when deployed. The skeg is controlled by a knob that was easy enough to use, even with gloves. I did miss the visual feedback of the skeg position I get from a slider, but it was not a big deal. The placement of the control is right against my thigh. Perhaps someone with longer legs wouldn’t feel it” (JK). MC “loved the skeg and its controls. The clicks made it easy to fine-tune the exact amount of tracking desired.”

Stability and maneuverability
The Whisky’s initial stability was rated as “rather low. I wouldn’t call it tippy, but it is easy to wiggle” (JK), “excellent” (MC” and “low-moderate” (GL). Secondary stability was, respectively “moderately light. I can feel the chine resisting but it is easy to push past,” “excellent—it increased predictably with increased edging” and “moderately high—a fun feel, stable where it counts.”
The Whisky “tracks fairly well, the bow moves about a bit on lumpy water but the kayak generally goes where it is pointed. It is one of the most maneuverable kayaks I have paddled. A little edge easily corrects a course, while a lot of edge carves tight turns. I could do a 180˚ turn in two strokes; great for catching waves or paddling around rock gardens” (JK). It’s an “incredible turner and responds to a moderate lean with huge arcs of turns” (GL).
“The Whiskey 16 did weathercock a bit but it was easy to control with the skeg. When fully deployed it showed lee helm like it should.” (JK). MC found the weathercocking was “minimal.” GL found there was “no appreciable weathercocking in 15-knot wind. I questioned why you even need a skeg.”

Speed and surfing
“The Whiskey 16 is quick and fast. It accelerates like lightning, making it a breeze to catch waves. It cruises at around 3 1/2 knots. An exercise pace easily brought it to around 4 1/2 knots. Sprinting, I could get it a little over 6 knots” (JK). It was “comfortable at 5 knots and can be forced up to 6 knots in an all-out sprint. The deck shape and foot and thigh braces allow for good application of power” (MC).
”With 2-foot wind waves, the Whisky performed beautifully. I caught waves quickly and stayed on them with quick stern rudders, and sweep strokes often got me back on line. The kayak danced; a lot of fun” (GL). “A surfing machine, it was lots of fun riding chaotic tide-race storm-waves and following seas. It has sufficient maneuverability to glide from one wave trough to another and can cover a lot of distance in a short period with little effort.” JK added “Wow, great surfer! It turns on a dime and accelerates very quickly. I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to broach, and turning didn’t take a lot of effort.”



Rolling and rescue
The Whisky is “easy to roll. It flips easily upright” (GL). “While the back deck is not very low it was low enough to allow layback rolls” (JK).
GL recommended that a “wet exit should be practiced owing to the narrow keyhole. You don’t just fall out. You need to slide out one leg at a time. Re-entry and roll wasn’t difficult; getting in position is a bit tricky, but the tight fit means a better chance of rolling up. A cowboy re-entry was no problem; easy to get aboard the stern, though the narrow keyhole made the move into the cockpit a bit harder” (GL). “When the bow is lifted almost all the water drains out of the cockpit.” (JK).
Cruising
GL and JK thought they could pack the Whisky with a week’s worth of gear. “The bow is big in volume, a large bear canister and large tripod fit without difficulty. In fact, two bear canisters could fit” (GL). All three reviewers found the two large hatches a bit fussy to put on securely. “After rolling, rescues, and surfing, the bow compartment contained about a cup of water, the foredeck compartment contained a few drops, the day compartment about half a cup, and there were about two cups of water in the stern compartment” (JK). GL found “the bow and stern had at least a half cup of water, deck compartment was dry, and day hatch had maybe a tablespoon of water.”
The three bulkheads are glassed in place and “seem solid and watertight” (JK).
With a cargo load of 45 pounds the initial stability rose to moderate; secondary felt the same, moderately high. Still great handling, though a little sluggish feeling compared to an empty boat” (GL).
The Bottom Line
“The Whiskey 16 is a fantastic kayak for skilled paddlers looking for fun. Rocks, waves, current; bring it on! Its speed and agility will make you the envy of other paddlers. The stability profile is not great for new paddlers, but it is a kayak many paddlers can grow into, but not out of” (JK). “The Whiskey 16 is all about fun. It is nicely designed, well constructed, and excels especially in ease of steering and control while surfing. It was a great pleasure to paddle in large waves, was plenty fast to keep up with other paddlers, and with partial deployment of the skeg it was a fantastic touring machine as well” (MC). “The Whisky is, in many ways, a kayaker’s kayak, a maneuverable craft that responds to sweeps and draws and spin maneuvers with arresting ease. For the intermediate to advanced small to medium-large paddler who loves all aspects of paddling. A few details need fixing, but this kayak’s a dream” (GL).
Point 65 Sweden
Headquarter:
Karlbergs Strand 4
SE-171 73 Solna, Sweden
Ph: +46 8 663 01 06
mail@point65.se