Since I have gotten my Kayak. All my friends want to get one too. Another friend of mine wants one also. He is a big guy. He weighs about 360lbs. We found Kayaks that have a weight capacity of 450lbs but the problem is the hole isn’t wide enough for him to fit.
Are there Kayaks designed to fit larger people?
If so who makes them and what do they cost? Or will he have to get a custom one?
Here’s a place to start looking…
I’m not sure if or how often he updates this site, but Wes Boyd offers some recommendations for larger paddlers here:
http://www.kayakplace.com/bigguy/bigguy.htm
As always, there’s no substitute for getting into boats and trying them on the water before making any decisions.
There’s also the possiblity of building one’s own boats, custom fit to one’s body size and shape. In any event, I’m sure it’s possible for your friend to find a way to get on the water. Good luck to your friend!
Melissa
Smitty, are you talking about WW
kayaks, or “recreational” kayaks? The latter have bigger cockpits, and often have wider seats. For WW kayaks, 360 plus is over the design limit of any boat which has appeared on the market. He should consider getting an open canoe. He can select one just big enough to carry him without losing handling. If he wants to do whitewater, he will have to be able to kneel.
You could go up to GoWithTheFlow in Roswell. They sell all sorts of kayaks and canoes.
At 6’1" & 240lbs,
I’m considered a big guy as far as kayaks are concerned.
If you are interesting in something high end for a lot of different kinds of water, consider a decked canoe like Verlen Kruger’s Sea Wind.
http://www.krugercanoes.com/prod01.htm
Try a Tandem kayak
Old Town makes several Tandem (2 seat) kayaks with one of the seats movable in case you want to paddle it solo. I think the “Loon” series is what I am referring to.
Check them out!
Necky Pinta
If you’re looking for a composite boat, check out the Necky Pinta. Now and then there’s a used one forsale on Paddling.net. 17’6" L, 27" wide, big cockpit, probably the one high end kayak designed for a really big person.
but reinforce the aft deck!
A friend is about 6’5" @325 and we discovered the aft deck is bogus for that weight of paddler. Don’t know what happened because the general design is excellent for BIG guys who need some usable primary stability. You can press down at the front edge of the hatch and push down an inch and it’ll buckle. I put in a minicell pillar from bulkhead to the aft hatch, made a BIG difference. I hope they make it available because most designs like the Current Designs Titan are high freeboard and not high volume hulls.
Also replace the rudder webbing with a looped piece of high tech 1/8" yacht braid because the webbing would simply slide under big guy leg pressure.
Thanks for hte advice
My buddy is 6’5" or so. I know he is much taller than I and I am 6’ exactly. And I weigh about 220lbs.
We are looking for recreational kayaks. Most of my friends who now want one will progress no farther than the Chattahoochee. I might take it up farther but for now we are looking for recreational kayaks.
The biggest problem is Width. He’s very large in the mid-section.
There is a Kayak store right next to a pool table store where one of my buddies works. He’s been in there before and said he thought he saw some kayaks that could fit him. We’ll have to check it out.
Thanks for the help and maturity which you guys have presented.
Smitty
Tandom or SOT
A tandom kayak could work and of course a good solo canoe. try looking into sots, there are probably some out there that fit the wiegt range. and they have no hole to fit in either.
There are several sit-on-tops that have
cpacity of 450 lbs. The fish and dive is one. With a SOT, you don’t have the problem of a cockpit.