I HAVE A PERCEPTION CAROLINA 14; KAYAK . I’M LOOKING FOR A KAYAK THAT WILL GIVE ME A LITTLE MORE SPEED WITH A BIG COCKPIT,AND NARROWER BEAM. I HAVE A PUNGO BUT IT’S PRETTY SLOW, ANY SUGGESTIONS?
How much to you want to spend?
And where do you paddle?
conflict
You usually are not going to get a really large cockpit with a narrower beam. That could restrict your choices a bit.
Necky Looksha 17 kayaks are fairly common used and those are a good bigger guy boat.
You need to look at 17’
Like a tempest , I don’t know of any with a large rec boat cockpit.
Big guy yak…
I’m a Xxxl paddler in a CD Soltice Titan, with limited knee flextion. Plenty of room in boat for paddler and gear. 6’6" / 315#’. This boat has large enough cockpit to enter/ exit using paddle across back combing and sliding out. Good luck in your search.
I’m big too…
I was renting an Eddyline Nighthawk for the start of this year (I’m a new kayaker) and it was great. Reasonably speedy and comfortable for 6’ 260 me (yes, I’m very out of shape). A friend of mine sold me an old Eddyline Wind Dancer (Kevlar & fiberglass) and I like it even more than the Nighthawk. Unfortunately both those boats are discontinued but come up used on Craigslist occasionally.
Eddyline’s replacement is the Denali, but it’s 2 feet shorter than the Nighthawk and Wind Dancer. Longer boats are faster, but short boats are popular right now. Our local shop wanted me try the Current Designs Isle which is a foot longer than my Wind Dancer. I never paddled it but the cockpit felt nice.
Used Necky Eskia if you can find one
http://www.neckykayaks.com/en-NZ/kayaks/touring/eskia/
I’m 6’ 250#. Fits great.
How big
are you? It matters.
Impex Assateague
As RPG asked, sizing? It does matter. Depends on the vintage of Carolina you’d probably be a fit.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=261543227430&globalID=EBAY-US
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
define “big cockpit"
Most touring kayaks are going to have a standard keyhole cockpit, averaging 37” x 19", give or take a couple inches each way. Most people can get in and out of that size OK unless they have flexibility issues. Your Carolina 14 is on the larger end at 39.5" x 21.5". Is that sufficient for your use? You are not likely to find much larger than that in a touring boat unless it is a completely open sit on top or a surf ski. This is primarily because you can’t effectively seal an oversized cockpit with a spray skirt.