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Topic: Hurricane Kayaks Skimmer 140 Initial Review  (Read 4657 times)

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bmb

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Hi All,

I was recently asked to join the Hurricane Kayaks Fishing Team, in addition to my responsibilities with the Native Watercraft Pro-Staff.  I think that these two kayak companies are an excellent mix, and having Hurricane's lightweight kayaks are a huge boon to my roots in paddling. 

I acquired Hurricane's longest SOT, the Skimmer 140, non angler edition, as I prefer to do my own rigging.  At 52lbs, the kayak is a breeze to carry even with its 14' length.  That made loading and unloading it really easy on me, especially since I had to carry it about 75 yards due to lack of planning for my shakedown cruise.

Why did I carry it 75 yards you ask? Well the pictures probably speak for themselves.  I took the kayak out today for a short jaunt at Shadow Cliffs, to see how well it handles and paddles.  While I was out there, I happened to see a bunch of beach balls floating around in the panhandle, so quickly came up with the idea to do a trash pickup, at least partially inspired by my Sac Crew friends. 

Kayak performance-
At 14', the Skimmer is of decent speed.  It's a bit sluggish off the line, but once you get it going, it has excellent glide.  I believe I topped out a bit over 4mph on the way down, wind aided. It has excellent stability for a 29" kayak, which I believe is at least partially due to its flat bottom.  Yes, that's right.  It has a keel at both ends, which round into a flat bottom, instead of a straight keel throughout its length like its competitor the Eddyline Caribbean. I can't say as to how it affects its paddle performance, but feel that it has better stability than my EC12. It maneuvers fairly well for a kayak of its length, and took my sculling strokes to sidle up to the lakeshore very well.  It can take long sweep strokes well, as well as reverse forward strokes to turn the kayak when going forward.  Going back against a decent 10mph breeze, the kayak really cut through the wind and light chop well.  About as well as any kayak I've ever paddled.  I think the thermoformed plastic rigidity really helped.  I felt that the kayak paddled better with the trash in the back, so it is possible that more weight will improve its paddling performance by keeping more of the kayak in the water.

Kayak Features-
1. The cockpit is large and comfortable, and the stock seat is excellent.  I was only on the kayak a short while, but felt very comfortable with the padding and seat positioning.  The foot pegs are easy to adjust, and worked well for me with my crocs.  The tankwell is excellent sized for storage, and was able to accept a lot of trash! 
2. The hatches are not latch style, but are gaspachi style hatches much like Native does.  This makes access to them a little more difficult on the water due to the tight fit, but should result in a nearly leakproof kayak through the hatches.
3. The kayak has multiple attachment points, some of which i found to leak. I will need to go over these with some marine goop to make sure there's no water intrusion through the rivet style attachments.
4. While the seat itself is great, it is not scuppered so there is a potential for a wet butt.  I accidentally poured some water on myself picking up a large plastic bag and that resulted in a wet butt.  That of course would not be a problem with waterproof paddling pants or a dry suit.

Kayak Specs and Cost
Skimmer 140   
Weight 52 lbs    
Length 14'
Width  29.5”
Weight Capacity 325 lbs.

Standard model- MSRP of $1499
Angler DLX model - MSRP $1699

Website:
http://hurricaneaquasports.com/our-kayaks/sit-on-tops/skimmer-140/

Local dealers - CCK


Chet

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  • Date Registered: Jun 2013
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The layout of this is similar to a WS 140.
I missed that WS. I hate to demo the hurricane I might end up buying it.  :smt006
For sale [Lithium Battery] Version_2 -> Postponing
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=87570.0

For sale [Lithium Battery] Version_1 -> Postponing
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=84409.msg959037#msg959037

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My adventure
http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=75214.0