My wife and I have been doing tandem kayaking for several years. Calm river, lake and ocean. We are wanting to purchase a new tandem and have narrowed it down to Waterman K2, ST21, or the Warren Light. Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated.
don’t I wish
Sea tandems are tough ones to try out. Not many have them, and I’ve been told many times that they are such an infrequent sale that shops don’t tend to stock them. I drove all the way to Maryland to pick up a new tandem. I usually figure special road trips for a great deal on something used, and my new purchases more local, but not the tandem. Unlike solo kayaks, I don’t have a lot of varying experiences to compare one with the other. I have a Current Designs Unity, 21’ x 26" fiberglass honeycomb core 85 lbs. $3,399. 13" depth, 4 bulkheads for comparison’s sake. Maybe posting this information will inspire a few more thoughts on the subject. I didn’t see info posted for the depths on the Nelo or Warren, or the bulkheads on the Warren:
Nelo Waterman K2: 22’x24", 2 bulkheads,
glass 62 lbs $2,150
carbon kevlar 53 lbs $3,600
carbon kevlar honeycomb 44 lbs $4,700
Stellar ST21: 21’4"x22.4", 13.7" depth, 3 bulkheads
glass 63.9 lbs $3,195
glass 55.1 lbs $3,660
glass/Kevlar honeycomb core 52.9 lbs $4,799
carbon honeycomb core 42.1 lbs $6,350
Warren Light Craft: 20’ x 25"
carbon corecell 44 lbs $6,985
Maybe someone is also familiar with these company’s construction methods, and can offer insight on that?
I would figure anything Nelo comes from a strong racing pedigree, and I’d be hard pressed to bet against it on speed and efficiency. Stellar seems strongly rooted in racing as well. Is speed one of your top priorities? Racing speed, fast touring efficiency, lily-dipping efficiency? I’m assuming you’re more performance oriented kayakers based on the list, but if not so much performance oriented, the Warren Light Craft might look pretty good, as their designs seem to be oriented towards providing good performance without the need for strongly developed skills - meaning comfort in waves, confident edging and such. I think that 3rd bulkhead on the Stellar could prove quite nice both from a capsize recovery situation, and structurally in such long kayaks compared to the Nelo. I’m guessing the Nelo may be missing a bulkhead between the 2 cockpits with only 2 bulkheads, and that’s probably an area that could really benefit from the reinforcement. But they may have figured that out ok structurally? Just thoughts. If I had to choose 1 of the 3 assuming equal prices right now, I would go for the Stellar. But I would so prefer to experience performance first.