Quick paddling review on my "New to Me" OK Trident 13

Let me preface this with the fact that I am a fairly new paddler, and this is a paddling review only.

I was given the chance to pickup a 2014 Trident 13 for a steal of a deal and jumped at the chance.

My first boat, a Malibu X-Caliber has to be sent back due to quality issues. My gripes with that boat was weight and speed - while needlessly stable it was a slug, and had a lot of hull slap.

My second boat, was a Jackson Cuda 12. Fairly stable boat, fairly fast. However, I didn't like the idea of taking it offshore. I sold it after paddling it three times.

A little about myself;

I'm 6'1 and hover between 235-255 throughout the year. I'm in fairly decent shape for a chubby guy, and quitting smoking last year has helped alot.

Balance wise, I feel I'm a bit above average.

I was looking for a boat that was light enough to put on top of my 4runner at the end of the day, stable enough for me to feel comfortable on in decent chop, and fast enough to allow me to go a couple miles each way without much, if any fatigue.

Most of the boats I looked at(including my Malibu) have moved towards a wide, grossly stable - yet fairly slow and heavy styling.

Stability:

The Trident 13 is 29.5" wide - however it sits much lower in the water than boats such as my X-Caliber(31" wide) and Cuda 12(31").

Because of the hull design and sitting lower in the water, you can notice right off the bat that your center of gravity is much lower. I honestly felt more comfortable right off the  bat in this boat than the Cuda, and in my opinion it is more stable(primary).

Being this was the first time out, I decided to try and stand in the T13 - something I had done first try in my Cuda 12.

I'm happy to report that I was able to, but I can tell the boat isn't really designed for it. As of now, I won't be throwing any casts standing up.

Speed:
The Trident 13 is no race car but it is certainly much faster than my X-Caliber was. I would say it has a slight edge on the Cuda 12, which was surprisingly quick for its width.

It tracks pretty well for its length and has a good amount of glide due to hull shape. I was not getting fatigued at all when I paddled it about 4 miles yesterday.

Comfort:
While the included seat is no La-Z-Boy, it was sufficent and stayed put(no sliding) which I can appreciate.

At my height, I had plenty of room and I can see this yak working well for someone up to 6'4 or so.

With myself and a jug of water, cart, shoes, and bag full of misc the only scupper holes taking water were the ones in the front of the footwell. They seem to drain well, but I can see myself getting a bit more wet offshore. Seeing as how I like the water, I don't see this as a huge problem - especially with a wetsuit on.

Features:

The rod pod is awesome. Although I wasn't fishing yesterday, it was very handy to set things in the little cut outs while paddling, and to gain access to the hull where my bag and jug of water were stored.

The front hatch is large enough that my kayak cart fits inside with the wheels removed, along with my other necessities.

The only additions I have initially planned are the installation of my Lowrance Elite-4X HDI and a Yak Gear Achor Trolley.

Down the road, I'm fairly certain I'll add a rudder to aid in tracking both offshore and while standing and paddling.

Overall, for me the Trident 13 seems to be the perfect balance of speed, stability, and features. I'm looking forward to putting many hours into paddling this kayak and rigging it along the way.

I hope this mini-review of sorts is helpful - I had a hard time finding info from guys that were on the larger side that paddled this boat.

I'm shopping for my first kayak and have been keeping an eye on the T13, so a big THANKS for this review. I really enjoyed reading it. 

Yes thank you for the info.