I have been kayaking fishing for the past 15 years and owned and paddled many yaks over the years. I recently picked up a PA 12 and took it out yesterday for the first time. I was rather blown away to say the least and I can now see what the hype is all about.
The seat is incredible. Both Native and Jackson have great seats but the Hobie Vantage seat takes it to another level. The whole pedal vs paddle was really what impressed me the most. It only took me about 15 minutes to get used to the peddling/steering. Once I was comfortable I didn't have to put my rod down while fishing, sometimes one hand on the steering lever but always had a hand on the rod. Tweaking boat position was simple as the rudder turned the boat on a dime. The large drop down skeg in combination with the pedals allowed for minimal drift in the wind. Also I had to paddle across the lake twice with a 15-20mph cross wind and the skeg kept me dead straight while underway.
I was seeing speeds 3-3.5mph peddling headwind and 3.5-4.5 downwind which was also impressive. Yes these boats are expensive but the experience will pay for itself. I would highly recommend anyone in the kayak market to check em out.
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Originally Posted by sgt93
