Is there such a thing as a fast plastic sea kayak? I am thinking about using it at the coast where osyters abound. I have a glass Gulfstream. Any help would be held in very high esteem. Thanks in advance.
Well…
If you have a Gulfsream and like it…the Scirroco From Current Designs is a plastic boat that is based on the Gulfstream. Neither are “Fast” but they are not bad…they certainly both paddle very well and are well built kayaks. Chatham 17 poly from Necky is a good one also. P&H Capella in poly is a good choice.The Riot Brittany. Maybe something from Valley. All good British styled skeg kayaks that are well built.
relative
There are a few poly boats that are relatively fast compared to other plastic boats. Though I am not aware of any truly fast poly sea kayaks (among the fastest sea kayaks are the Epic Endurance 18, QCC700, Art Hawk, etc…)
The Poly Aquanaut should be fast for a Brit style plastic boat. The poly Nordkapp may be fairly fast for a Brit boat.
Well, I dusted quite a few…
…fancy, expensive kayaks in my plastic Prijon.
(This will bring the snobs out of the foam!)
A glass kayak will last as well as a
plastic kayak around oyster beds. “Plastic” or poly is soft and will get chewed up. And then how do you rebuild it? A “glass” boat is hard-surfaced, will often not show the effects of oyster shells, and if a glass boat does wear, it can be resurfaced.
Second rroberts comment
– Last Updated: Mar-26-06 7:33 PM EST –
He and I own this boat.
http://www.argear.com/gear/grprijonbarracuda_kayak.html
www.wildnet.com
Check out Enlightened Kayaks
they are a John Winters design and similar to the QCC600 but in a “hard” type of plastic.
http://www.enlightenedkayaks.com/
dagger cortez
i never paddled one but its reputed to be a fast poly boat
Speed
Speed in the ocean or flatwater? Overall top speed or efficency? I’ve got a Dagger Cortez 16.5. Very fast boat. Not as good in big waves, give me my Sirocco for that. With my CLC North Bay XL, I feel like it would be much faster with a better engine.
wow, the enlightened kayaks
are plastic QCCs !!
interesting indeed.
You don’t even need a sleek
Barracuda Prijon to leave some composites in the dust. I do it all the time in my 14 1/2’, 25" beam Calabria. I agree that the engine is as important as the boat. Thank you Mssrs. Reitz and Foster.
Yup
It’s not the kayak…it is who is in it that makes it fast! 
Cheers…Joe O’
Paddler – and the paddle
I think, agreeing with several of the posters above, that indeed it is often the paddler that can make the difference. I’d add that also, in many instances, it’s all about the paddle more than the boat. A well tuned, well-sized, appropriate-for-your-style, lightweight paddle can really knock some time off the clock for efficiency in the water. Any good motorboater knows, change the prop, keep engine the same, can greatly affect the trim and the speed of a boat; same true for a paddle for a kayaker.
fast plastic
If this means anything coming from a newbie. But I own a Scirroco and an Avatar. For the same amount of effort the Avatar sure seems faster than the Scirroco. Thats if you can fit in the Avatar.
Valley Skerray…
When I used to have the Skerray, I never had a problem outdistancing many shiny glass boats and I was always at the front of the pack. Of course it can’t keep up to my new shiny glass boat (Silhouette) but for a plastic boat, it had very respectable speed.
Old Town Millennium 174
The Old Town Millennium 174 is a fast boat. I’ve won races in it and so has my husband, against glass and kevlar boats. You have to have a strong engine, the paddle that is right for you, and a boat that you know how to paddle. For a plastic boat, the Millennium has served us very well!
Susan