I have narrowed my first purchase to a

Advice
#1

This is my first time kayak purchase and have narrowed it down to a Seaward Cosma TX (the new thermoforms) or a Delta, (who has many years of experience manufacturing thermoforms). Has anyone out there paddled either or? Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

#2

Delta
I bought the Delta Expedition 14.5 about a month ago, If I had bought it first I probably wouldn’t have those other five boats out in the garage. Also have a couple of friends with Delta’s of different lengths. I’ve never paddled the Seaward so I can’t compare them. I’m krazee about my Delta though.

#3

Response to Kayakrazee
Thanks. I was a little worried about the length and not being able to keep up with fellow paddlers, as the shorter they are the slower they go…the kayaks, not the paddlers. However, for some reason this doesn’t appear to be the case with the Delta. How do you find it paddles?

#4

I bought one too!

– Last Updated: Jun-19-07 10:41 PM EST –

I just bought a Delta 18 Expedition for my son. He’s a big kid at 6’5" tall and the 18 fits him beautifully. Next month he’ll be paddling it on a two week trip that we’re doing on the west coast of Vancouver Island.



I’ve paddled a few of the Delta’s and think they’re very good quality boats – and it’s difficult to tell from looking at them that they’re not a more expensive composite – definitely not your average plastic boat.



I really like the Delta Fifteen5 – it’s a rather nimble boat with pretty impressive speed. And loads of storage – you could easily spend a week or two living out of this kayak.



I also had opportunity to try the prototype for the Delta 17 that will be hitting the market in about 3 weeks – the 17 is sure to be a winner – it’s fast, responsive and is a blast to paddle. It’s quite a bit more sporty than the other Delta’s and is only 22 1/2 inches wide and has a hard chine hull. Haven’t had a chance to get in any surfing conditions but anticipate that this is going to be a really good surfing yak.



Hope this helps,



Dan



http://www.westcoastpaddler.com


#5

It paddles
great. I’m usually always lagging behind to look at something, but catching up is not a problem in this boat. It tracks extremely well but is also very manuverable (I’ve had it some very narrow & twisting creeks)I’ve had it out in the Gulf of

Mexico once and it handles extremely well in the rough water. It also has alot of storage if you want to camp out of it. Happy Paddling!!!