Seat wearing
I had that happen with my Arctic Hawk, wore a pair of little holes in it, I thought my skirt was leaking for about 2 weeks before I noticed it. If you put some foam on either side of the Elle’s seat and say some quarter inch (mini cell for all of it) under it you wont have wearing problems. Bottom line, its a Good boat by a Great company.
i’ve had one for 3 years
i bought my ellesmere up in Canada as my first kayak after kayaking three times. it was a demo kevlar that an instructor was selling. i don’t think its a beginner boat since the hull design is optimized for lean turns and rough water. at first i paddled it on a flat lake and found that it was quick to wander, in Lake Ontario in the more choppy conditions i started to like it more, and then when i got it home to Coastal VA and got it out in the Atlantic i started to really like it.
i weigh 155 and adding enough ballast to hit the 180lb mark lets the chines sink into the water and become engaged eliminating the wandering feel substantially. it edges very well and after one afternoon of deciding to teach myself to roll i was able to get it at least part of the time.
i’ve taken it on a couple of three day camping trips and it loads up fine, not tons of room but i pack light. the hatches have remained perfectly dry and the finish is of the boat seems fine.
i was worried because the layup of the boreal boats does seem a little light but i have had one incident where i was slammed into the edge of a concrete piling suffering only a small gelcoat chip (this could be a testament to kevlar boats being able to flex on impact better than FG) and regularly do surf launches and landings sometimes with not so graceful results.
i have the old rope skeg design that lets you overcome any debris being stuck in the skeg box by yanking on the rope. i think the new knob control is problematic but i like that they’ve switched to an aluminum skeg.
i wouldn’t use this boat for racing or just floating around on a calm lake but for the stuff in between with a lean towards the choppier stuff i think its great.
“Feels Slow” Doesn’t = IS SLOW
– Last Updated: Oct-21-05 7:55 PM EST –
I've read so much crap on these pages about "fast" kayaks, slow kayaks, etc.
For MOST practical purposes, MOST kayaks are fast enough to keep up with the other idiots in the group...
Example: I own a woodstrip Guillemot Night Heron. It's numbers are:
Predicted Drag Speed (knots)
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Resistance
0.96 1.45 2.00 2.68 3.69 5.05 7.06 9.89 11.61
Yet I don't "feel" it is any faster than my Solstice GTS (which you guys say is "slow"). Note that the CD GTS wins tons of races...
And my Caribou S is "supposed" to be nearly as fast as my GTS. It is NOT!
Unless you do the speed v. drag comparisons, you might as well not yap, yap, yap! And everything is dependent on your weight, the water conditions, the wind conditions, and your condition anyway...
Get some fast boats and go paddle. Yes, there are some dogs out there, but the Ellesmere is NOT one of themmmmm....
Glenn
Broze/Taylor for Explorer
2 knots - 0.94
3 knots - 1.96
4 knots - 3.63
4.5 knots - 5.25
5 knots - 7.92
6 knots - 13.98
I’d have to dig out the Sea Kayaker review for the KAPER numbers.
I’m 5’8", 160 lbs, slim to standard build and a 2006 Ellesmere has been my first kayak of many (CD Prana LV, SKUK Romany, Valley Gemini SP RM, kevlar Avocet, and Nordkapp Jubilee). Among them all, with maybe the exception of the Nordkapp, the Ellesmere is the fastest kayak that I have, and I say that as a traditional GL paddler who uses a low cadence. I am usually the one waiting for others to catch up in the Elle, maybe a result of the round hull and very stiff build.
It has thee most comfortable seat of any kayak I’ve been in. I’ve happily paddled for long hours on a ten day tour and was never once achey or sore from the seat.
The Ellesmere can definitely hold a lot of gear, depending on your style of packing. Coming from backpacking, most of my gear is very small and light.
Initially, it had a low primary stability to me but I don’t notice that anymor as I’ve gained experience. This tippy characteristic, for me, makes the Elle handle rough water superbly, keeping me upright with minimal bracing needed. Following seas haven’t presented an issue.
No kayak is perfect though. I wish they’d made all the hatches a bit sunken and streamlined, as the forward one is. An indentation for a permanently mounted compass would be welcomed. in It’s not the lightest kayak either, but it’s built to last.
For rolling and balance bracing, it takes a bit more effort and is probably suited to someone just a bit heavier, taller definitely more flexible 
However, kayaks that are a little more challenging to roll often demand better technique which will only help me. The low back deck is a definite plus.
The skeg control is mostly well designed, and so simple that it could be fixed on a trip. The spectra cord means that it won’t kink if something forces the skeg up, and I’m able to use the dial while in mid stroke, so it rarely interrupts my rhythm. Having said that, rounded edges on the skeg dial would be an improvement as it’s boxy. I drilled a tiny hole in the rear portion of the skeg fin, just above the hull line when retracted and attached a thin cord with a knot on the bottom to allow a companion to pull the skeg down in case it has a rock in it (from surfing, for example).
I get a lot of admiring strangers chatting me up about the graceful look of the Ellesmere, but its vanity aside, of the kayaks I own, if I could only have one, the Ellesmere would easily be my top choice since it does so many things really well. It’s too bad Boreal Design discontinued production after they were taken over by Kayak Distribution.
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Lots of consolidation across industries, and consumers usually suffer the result. Little innovation and no real choice … cookie cutter products for the “average” customer … keep costs low and margins high …
The Advertising Department’s dream is the R & D Department’s black hole of Calcutta.