I am interested in the new Hurricane Tampico XL. I tried one out briefly last week, but didn’t have the time to go any distance. It seemed comfortable and stable enough, but I couldn’t get a good idea about speed and ease of paddling over a distance. I am 6" tall, 180 lbs. Does anyone have any experience with this kayak?
I can’t speak
to the Tampico but I have a Hurricane Tracer and like it a lot. The company overall seems to have a very loyal customer and dealer base. The fit and finish on my boat is great. Outfitting is also good.
Check the reviews at this site. Their boats seem to have many pluses, weight being the biggest. I think there is one for sale in the classified section.
At 6’ and 180 you might want to think about a larger kayak. I think the Tampico is rated at carrying 250 # builders always inflate that number. Make sure you try it before you buy. Try a Tracer also . . . At 16.5” it maybe a better match size wise. If you do get a used tracer make SURE IT HAS A SKEG. The orginal Traces did not have a skeg plus they had more rocker and were hard to control. Later models had the skeg and less rocker
I know several people on p.net have Tampicos. I’m sure they will let you know what they think.
My wife has a regular Tampico
My wife has the standard Tampico. She likes it a lot. It is a nice recreational kayak. It tracks very straight, and is easty for her to paddle.
I would be concerned with your weight in that kayak. I believe the XL has the same Hull as the standard. Her’s sits in the water with about 1-1/2" of the white hull above the water. Test paddle the Tampico XL, and be sure you have some free hull above the water. A higher ride will be a bit dryer in rougher water.
It is made fiarly well, and we bought hers as the result of a friends reccommendation that already owned one for a couple years.
They made Tampico with a higher deck for the bigger paddler, but I am surprised they also made the cockpit opening smaller. That doesn’t make sense to me. As I am a “bigger” paddler, and like a larger cockpit opening.
Paddle it first, and if you are happy with it, buy it. It is a well made kayak, and if you like paddling it, you don’t have to be afraid of it’s construction.
Good Luck!
Tampico XL
While shopping for our first SINK boats, my wife and I rented Tampico’s. She got the Standard, and I got the XL.
I am 5’8" and 180-185 lbs.
The XL has quite a bit more freeboard at the cockpit than the Standard. We pulled alongside each other and the difference in deck height above the waterline was quite noticeable. By our experience on the open water areas where there was wind, the XL weathercocks a LOT more than the Standard. I found myself paddling quite a bit on one side of the boat to hold a heading travelling cross wind.
The more open cockpit of the XL may appeal to some persons quite a bit larger than myself, but I found it uncomfortable to spread my knees out wide enough to get a grip on the underside of the deck.
Speed? Subjectively, no rocket sled.
Tracking was OK when sheltered from the wind.
Initial stability seemed pretty good, but then it is a bit wider boat.
The material these boats are made from looks a lot nicer than the dull finish of the poly boats, AND you can repair gouges, cracks etc with Devcon Plastic Welder 2-part epoxy-like adhesive, available at Wally World for about $3!
Carol liked the Standard, as it fit her well, and handled the wind better than the XL did.
We ended up buying different boats, however.
Bob
COACH-A FOLLOW UP AND DWAUGH’S COMMENTS
Sally has a Tracer. I got it for her as a surprise last Christmas after she’d tried one and finally found a SINK (we started out as SOTers) she liked.
I bought used, from GetOutdoors in SC, and was pleased with them, their price, and their service; good people to work with, they even shipped it with a nice big red bow as for it being her Christmas present.
The boat we got was an early model, rudderless and skegless, made of the same Trylon the Tampico is. We finally got a skeg put on it by a local shop, and now it tracks about 1000% better, while still being the quick, easily paddled boat we’d originally demoed.
Like DWAUGH, I’d suggest you see if you can give a Tracer a try -it’ll probably fit you better, and will definitely be a faster boat if speed is a characteristic you’d appreciate.
But unless ytou’re going to stuff the Tampico for long trips, it ought to work for you.
The Trylon it’s made of is Very Good Stuff: it looks terrific, is plenty tough and holds up well, is apparently used well and assembled right by the folks at Hurricane, and it cleans up well. With a car product (a “bug wipe”) we cleaned it of some pretty gunky tar it had picked up on a paddle last month quite easily.
And it’s light… SOOOOO much easier to rack and unrack your boats at either end of your trips to
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
Hurricane Tampico XL
We’re big Hurricane fans with four now in the fleet. My first good kayak was the standard Tampico which I still paddle a lot since it fits me perfectly. I see they now call it the Tampico 135S. I’m only 5ft-4in and other women my size have loved the fit too. The material still looks almost brand new when we clean them up. My brother is almost exactly your size and test paddled so many kayaks he got kind of grid-locked. But he kept coming back to the Tampico XL and finally bought it in September. He said it tracked well in wind for him (unlike the other reviewer) and his only hesitation was that 250 lbs is for sure the max and Tim thinks 230 is more realistic. But in the end he decided he wouldn’t be doing loaded trips and wanted the lightest boat he could afford. But he’s got his sights set on my Tracer should I “outgrow” it. Fat chance-I just had my kayak dealer add custom foam pads and it’s mine!!