Any news on the new Valley

Anyone actually see or paddle one of these newer design boats, or have any idea when we might see them state-side?

http://valleyseakayaks.squarespace.com/

New Valley Boat - The Etain
The New Valley Boat called the Etain will be arriving in the USA Mid-February - Spec. 17’7" x 21.5"

similiar
Looks very much like CD’s new version of the Caribou.



Bill H.

hope
Sea Kayak Georgia has one at the East Coast Canoe and Kayak festival in April. A lot of people go there to demo kayaks.



It looks more in line with the newer kayaks being offered. I would suspect it has great secondary and is responsive to edging.


I appreciate what they are trying to do,
but I hope it does not come at the expense of that classic Valley handling. The last swede boat I owned was an early version of the Cetus, and “I” struggled greatly with the off wind/wave performance of that design( I was not alone). If I fit in it, and it tracks and surfs well, I would be interested. Nice looking boat from my favorite kayak mfg. Bill

New Valley boat…Cetusization?
My guess is that the new Valley boat represents the influence of the Cetus series and combining it with as many of the good qualities of the Aquanaut as possible.



I too hope it still feels like a Valley.





http://www.cackletv.com/2010/09/08/valleys-new-baby/

same here
My first kayak was a Capella 169 with the Sweed form, that did great but was awful in rear quartering waves, while the Explorer and NFK had no issues at all. I read the Rockpool with no skeg also broaches the same way.



From the picture it looks a lot like the new Pilgrim that I paddled with over the weekend and has more pronounced chime than the Explore. It also resembles the Tiderace Xplore, and hopefully not so much the Cetus that has the really huge bulge behind the hips.



Like Wilso said below it’s probably closer to an Aquanaut with more pronounced chine.



I hope it keeps that same Valley feel. I would have gone with an Aqunaut but it didn’t respond at all to edging on my demo.

Their Rapier 18…
…would seem to follow the Swede hull form more than the fish form…

the deck height
looks a lot like the height on my Q boat and I fit it a bit too tight. Looks like the Etain is just not my size :slight_smile: I love Valley but I would have to get used to the name too. Etain sounds like some kind of perfume.