NFK Legend commentary

oh boy, i hope this can be construed as either advice, a suggestion or general help, or i’m in for it…



just met a fellow today who is paddling around Van Isle in his Legend, and got lots of his thoughts on the boat for such a journey and checked his boat over in detail.



surprising volume, he carries a fat tire stern wheels set, in the bow to avoid long beach drags. i can’t believe he gets it inside… straight lines with no concave surfaces, produces lots of space. impressive volume in the ends and past the flawless skeg box, especially relative to my Assateague. his boat is kevlar with bow foot pump factory installed and weighs in at a sturdy but reasonable 54 lbs. stiff all over. the inside finishing around all seams, fittings and bulkheads is incredible. the QC is nothing short of outstanding, like almost perfect.



even fully loaded and a stout athletic guy, he finds the boat needs attention, as it is so tender on center. can’t take pictures in chop, too ‘lively’. he cruises at 3.9 knots using a Coryvreken paddle. fast but seems in the normal range as opposed to really fast.



odd deck line and perimeter line layout. don’t quite see the utility in it.



anyhow, just a paddling geek doing what a paddling geek does. boat talk…

I have a NFK Shadow
which is basically a slightly higher volume version of the Legend. The Shadow is 1" wider and about 1/2" higher.



The boat (if built by Seaward) has extraordinary quality and finish. The boat tracks very well but when put on edge it spins on a dime. Nigel likes a very loose stern on his boats and that his how he designed the Shadow, Legend, Silhouette series.



You can carry a lot of gear, but you can also use this boat as a playboat. It is reasonably fast and surfs beautifully. It is also a very easy boat to roll.



The downsides - this is not a boat for the beginner. Although it has a lot of secondary stability, it does not have much primary. When not moving, the boat wants to sit on one chine or the other and that gives inexperienced paddlers a lot of uneasyness and the boat feels tippy.



If you’ve been paddling a while, it’s an awesome boat. As far as the deck lines and rigging are concerned, I’ve had the same conversation with both Seaward and Nigel on more than one occasion. Nigel likes the deck lines as is, and says the deck lines that come to a point just in front of the cockpit are so that you can grab the boat quickly while you scamper up a steep beach before the next dumping wave hits. It’s easy to change the rigging to something you prefer. I also added some quick release straps for a paddle float re-entry. Nigel doesn’t think this is necessary as you should be able to roll. My thought is what happens if you injure your shoulder and can’t roll.



My best recommendation is that I would buy this boat again - I really like it.

NF Seaward Legend
All I can think when I’m on the water is, Weeeeeeee… It is that much fun for me.


i gotta spend more time in one
the Legend is a bit too tight for me, the Shadow is a better fit. the volume, spartan outfitting, solid fit and hatch system certainly make it a highly appealing touring boat. i just can’t get over the feeling of running my hand all over the interior and not feeling a rough surface, sharp edge, or one shard of glass fibre. my favourite boat is quite a different story.

No excuse not to
JBV, your profile says you’re in Victoria, B.C. You’re right around the corner from Chemainus.

NFK Legend
I have a Seaward NFK Legend and it is a lovely, sweet handling boat and I agree the quality control is simply superb.

You’ll also find the Shadow is
slightly more playful. It turns a little better than the Shadow which turns a little better than the Silhouette when they are placed on edge. The reason is that since the boats are the same length, but the width is different, when they are on edge the Shadow has the most amount of rocker while the Sil has the least.



According to Nigel, there’s not enough difference in speed between them for a paddler to be able to notice.

love my shadow
if your not in love with your assateague you should demo one. on paper i thought the assateague was for me, but after i paddled one i thouth it was to large. i felt lost in the cockpit(6’1", 230, 14s). the shadow is much tighter, although i could use another 1/2" in the deck. i found both speed and agility superior in the shadow(for me at least). its hard to believe the dimensions on the two boats are about equall. i want to try a q-boat to compare the three.