The Amazing Raptor part 2

I thought this was the proper place so I moved my post here. I will be posting more  about this yak that wasn't in the interview tomorrow.
Ok so it isn't tomorrow. First of all I never thought I'd be standing and casting a fly line in a yak that paddles this well.  The board members that I've had the good fortune know that my paddling skills are traditional, I mean really traditional as in Greenland style. I actually try to fly fish from a Greenland style yak, if you read my review you know what happened. Although I  gave up on the Greenland yak, I've used a Greenland paddle for the last several years. There were some paddling skills  I wasn't able to do  because of the bulk of most S.o.ts  I can now do in the Raptor. There is a somewhat humorous situation in the design of the Raptor( Too me any way)
When I do a paddling demo one of my first instructions is...end your paddle stroke with your hand by your hip, in doing so you don't wast energy keeping your yak tracking straight with corrective strokes. When I or you are siting the Raptor you will notice just beyond the hip is when the Raptor spreads out so that area stops the strok from going ant farther. if I need to I'll post an image. This fantastic! Now even Yakhopper would have to paddle properly in a Raptor!

Hey Guys I've been reviewing The santa Cruz Kayaks  Raptor for about the last month. Check it out on kayak fishing magazine. Link below
http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/gear-guide/92-staff-reviews/1351-santa-cruz-raptor.html

   Hey Rickey,     I see you pulled that thread over here.     Let me help with more " real sea condition " photo's .
    The kind of weather you don't want to be out on the water.  10' swells w/ 20 knot sustained winds.  Nobody does that in their right mind, (except NCKA fishermen...) 
   In the second photo , you can just see his head ( middle - left ),      after a 45 minute paddle, there was less than a cup of water in the boat.   It was raining at the time.    Not using a skirt.

 the other two photos  display layout for tackle, rods ( inside boat)  .  niches designed to hold  gaff, bilge pump... etc.   Interior storage.      Hope this helps.

    Sure looks foggy outside Santa Cruz this morning.

BM is was nice meeting you at CL your boat looked pretty interesting, couple of questions how does it do in River Currents How about anchored from the rear in heavy current?  and where would you attach the anchor line? any North Bay dealers? Are you bringing one to albion?

     Nice meeting you too.  Though I gotta admit.   With that many people it's hard to remember everyone I met that day.   
 For sure I gotta do Albion, next time I'll camp for the night and get to know some of you all better ( if gas doesn't hit 6 dollars by then) .   
   C L ,   I gotta ask,   I never heard of using live bait for a Bass tournament before... what's up with that?   
   
    Anchoring,  The second pic up shows an anchor trolley rigged.  It's easily removed with shackles.   I use that brass hook to attach to the anchor rode, with a float attached so I can retrieve it later if I have to kick it off.   Using the rudder, I can control the angle of the boat against the current and keep it from swinging.    I've not had any issues anchored up around Rio Vista bridge in some pretty fast current.  Except for the anchor slipping  occasionally.   I suppose if I could make a small danforth anchor it would hold in the mud better.
  Don't know how it does drifting in current.   Anxious to find out, but I've positive expectations based on performance with the sail and motor.     I'm planning to hit the Yuba river once the Shad start running.  It'd be nice to get a small group together so we could drift that section of river from above Marysville and have a car positioned below somewhere.   Expecting a pretty heavy run-off with all that snow in the sierras.
   No north bay dealers...     They all have too much inventory, or not enough room,,,    Possibly Santa Rosa if I can convince John at Wind Toys to pull me in.   Work on him for me    LOL
 

C L ,   I gotta ask,   I never heard of using live bait for a Bass tournament before... what's up with that?   

First and foremost, we abide by all CDFG rules.  Secondly, we're not B.A.S.S. and we don't follow their tournament sanctioned rules.

Ran into two guys this weekend out at doran who took two raptors out to seal island for abs. They said its stable but seems to heavy in the bow, almost as if it wanted to nose dive. They even had extra flotation up front. They also said it was a slug, and you don't need the rudder. They said for what the cost is they would rather have the hobie. Oh and the crabbing was slow.

Patrick Willis is the shiznat, but for someone who has never paddled a Raptor he sure had a lot of po po to say.  My friends and I took some out a few weeks ago to get some halibut and got a little footage in the process.  I wish it showed a little more of the speed and maneuverability of the craft but check it out anyway.  I'll have to take it out again soon and get more in depth footage of its capabilities.   

Cool Video. Makes me want to get into the salt.

Your right I have never paddled one, I simply was relaying what somebody else had told me right after they got out of the water. It looks like a lot of people are interested in this boat, so the more info on it the better. If the boat kicks ass, cool!!! If not, oh well.

Cool, I might even get more footage as soon as manyana.  I feel like having halibut for Easter Sunday! 

Has anyone capsized in the open ocean in one of these yet? I would be real curious as to the difficulty of righting the craft and getting the water out so as to paddle back in. Does the stern being so low in the water have a tendency to let a following wave come over the stern? Last but not least .... whats wrong with live bait? Gods own natural made gift with no artificial ingredients. No toxic by-products. 100% bio-degradeable too. All that artificial poo poo is hogwash.

       Hey Jared,  thanks for the video,   it's almost like having a wingman on my side.     

    Ya know, I hear these comments and wonder how to respond.   I don't want to sound defensive, and I'm not trying to give a sales pitch.   This thread started by one members comment who was looking for a kayak.
      One guy says it's as fast as a Prowler, another repeats a comment  heard on the beach that it's a slug...    compared to what ?  A comparable size/ type of  kayak ?    It is what it is. It has it's limitations, and it has it's own unique qualities.    If your thing is going through 5-6' surf to fish, this isn't the boat for you.
     I spent 7 hrs trolling  for stripers along Brannon Island today.   Launched at Korths Pirates Liar.  ( great location )   Rained a little,  wind blew hard all day.    It seems everytime I take this kayak out I discover something else I like about it.  Something I couldn't do in other kayaks.   
      Capitola Bait and Tackle on the wharf will have a couple for rentals starting in May.  In case anyone would like to form their own opinion, from experience.

And last but not least...    It would be great to test the capabilities of this boat.  I havn't capsized it in the open ocean yet.   Let's go do it...    "DO IT NOW" ( arnold swarzzenegger voice , Predator movie )   
    Seriously,  does anybody want to help out with a  video shoot ?   Could use a  chase / safety boat to follow along and also provide a platform for a video shoot ?   I'd like to take it from  Treasure Island to  Emeryville in a high wind condition,    test out the sail performance also.  Ideally a 10-15 hp  Zodiac.    Also it would be sweet to see a couple other models show up for this shoot to see how they compare in performance.  Bring it...   " DO IT NOW" ..             Might even get some fish time in ...

   Gods own natural made gift with no artificial ingredients. No toxic by-products.     Are  we still talking about bait?   I like natural,,,  supple...   

     

I got to give it to Rickey 2 firsts in this post never seen a FF mounted behind and never seen a Fly guy using one Ricky does know his boats though.

I got to give it to Rickey 2 firsts in this post never seen a FF mounted behind and never seen a Fly guy using one Ricky does know his boats though.

You can set the FF to "beep" when it detects the fish or a rear mirror like Vallejo Dave 

       Fly Slingers in Sacramento, got a first hand introduction on Saturday .      http://www.kiene.com/
 
It's got me interested in learning more about fly fishing.