Four out of Five Stars
I bought my Pace 17 off Dan 7 months ago, I
use it mostly for day trips but have done a 5 day tour with a longest distance
of 43km in a day sitting in it for 6 hours, I am 187cm tall weigh 78kg and wear
size 12 shoes, the pedals are on the second to last setting and there is lots
of foot room. I have paddled it in up to 20knts loaded and unloaded.
The build quality is hard to fault with
water tight hatches, foot pedals set at a good height, strong back band and
deck fittings glassed over with no other rough edges inside to catch gear. There
is an oval front hatch to make gear storage easy and plenty of volume forward
and aft. Deck bungees hold a split paddle well with some room for a pump. The
seat is acceptable for comfort, I had to install some hip padding to help with
rolling as the seat was a bit wide for me but otherwise no modifications, the
cockpit size allows a backside in first entry.
On my boat the rudder blade would stick
between the sides of the rudder housing needing me to sand the side of the
blade to let it deploy by its self.
In my perfect world I would do away with
the day hatch, they add cost and weight, move the bulkhead behind the seat
forward to the cockpit rim to help with draining the cockpit and cross the
rudder cables to help with turning.
As for paddling I find the stability fine,
slightly light on the primary on flat water but once in waves don't notice it,
feels like a boat that will look after you when you are tired. Forward paddling
is easy, the boat moves well and has a narrow catch due to its swede form, the
foot pedals allow pressure to be applied without steering and the volume
forward gives a dry ride.
For turning, think touring turning, on the move use the
rudder, I have not had a lot of luck with hip steering in spite of also owning
a skeg boat, to pivot raise the rudder, sweep and edge. This is not a criticism
rather a feature of this class of kayak.
The Pace lee cocks when stationary but
paddling with the wind abeam it doesn't require much correction from the rudder
and so far haven't had any problems turning up wind but will cross the rudder
cables at some stage.
It surfs well with rudder down running
straight to the beach or downwind without broaching and is as easy as a 25kg
boat is to catch waves.
As mentioned previously I fitted hip
padding to help with rolling, don't think Greenland rolling weapon here but
acceptable for this class of boat with good thigh braces to help lock you in
and transfer the action to the boat.
I would say the kayak does what it is
advertised as doing, if you want something else there are other boats in their
range with different features. This is a kayak for someone who wants an easy to
use quality tourer with a large volume, all day comfort, that will look after
you when it gets rough and you are tired.
Reviewed by Martin Fraser
Reviewed by Martin Fraser
