Thank you, sir.
If you are planning on hitting rocks or paddling over shallow areas with rocky bottoms, I would recommend a rotomolded boat, in spite of the weight. Rotomolded boats have been known to fall off a car at highway speeds, bounce merrily down the road, and if not run over suffer little more than a few cosmetic scratches.
A fiberglass boat hitting a rock hard can actually shatter or end up with a hole in it. A Kevlar boat may end up with damaged gelcoat, but you are extremely unlikely to actually put a hole in it. Unless the damage is severe, like wrapping it around a rock, it will likely still be usable. I have a 24 year old 18’ Kevlar kayak and have hit plenty of rocks and other things in my day but just ended up with some chipped or scratched gelcoat that I’ll touch up every few years.
As for rudders and skegs, the most common failure for a rudder is a broken cable. This can be temporarily fixed in the field with a bungee cord. The most common failure of a skeg is a kinked control cable. With most boats this is a complicated repair and not one ordinarily done in the field. Hitting a rock while going sideways, a rudder will usually just turn and kick up. With a skeg, damage to the skeg and skeg box can be extensive.
As far as camping or carrying gear, a skeg box can take up a lot of room in the stern compartment.
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rstevens15, many thanks for the detailed guidance! All duly noted.
Out of 4 sea kayaks, 2 with skegs and 2 with rudders, I have had 2 kayaks with consistently working rudders, and 2 kayaks with consistently malfunctioning skegs. in one case skeg malfunction at a beach launch (pebble in the box) caused me to lose a race by a few seconds as I was making corrective strokes much of the time. And as Rstevens15 said, a broken rudder cable is a simple fix compared to skeg damage. There are three benefits to a skeg: More consistent resistance to side slip in large waves when the stern is out of the water a lot, the option to use a nice one piece angled foot plate in place of pedals, and most significant, the aesthetic superiority of not having rudder hardware on the top/stern.
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Doesn’t sound like the greatest reason, but actually it is my main reason.
“The Legend is a bit different. The reason it feels twitchy is that when at rest it likes to sit slightly on a tilt and not flat on the water. If you get use to that it wont feel tipsy.”
I’ll differ a bit on the cause - effect thing here. It does like to sit flat on the water, and that is what it will automatically do. It has loose primary stability, and very solid secondary stability - the type of secondary stability that holds you upright. If a paddler is not yet confident and relaxed in the hull, and their muscles are twitching every time the hull moves a bit within the primary stability range, they may feel more comfortable edging/leaning into that solid secondary stability on one side or the other. But that’s not because that’s what the kayak likes to do. If you’re relaxed, it rides level.
It may feel twitchy because of the rounded ends transitioning into an arched center offering looser primary stability than a person is used to. If it didn’t have solid secondary stability, no one would suggest that they feel most comfortable paddling it on edge. So I guess my only distinction is that it isn’t the kayak that likes to be slightly on a tilt. And it isn’t getting used to paddling slightly on tilt that will make you truly relaxed paddling the kayak. It is getting comfortable with the primary stability, which is much easier to do when you realize how much confidence you can have in the secondary stability.
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Yep, that is why I listed it as most significant. I think the conversation about skegs versus rudders would be more productive if more skeg proponents publicly embraced the fact they want kayaks to be beautiful, and rudders are just plain ugly. So, if the OP wants to cruise down the river with a minimum of hassle, maximum contained storage, and the lowest risk of damage requiring skilled repair, rudder. If he wants to look great doing it, skeg. Since we do this for enjoyment, looking great doing it may actually be more important than having a more efficient, reliable anti-weathercocking system.
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roym, my first sea kayak, an Avoncraft Sea Banook (1985), had that same type of built-in skeg. Hard to turn, but great tracking.
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I have the Legend. I just did a three day river trip. The legend has much more gear storage room that the Currituck. It is a high volume boat with large hatches. I highly recommend it as an expedition boat. The lack of initial stability takes a while to get used to but after a few paddles I feel confident in rough water.
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Thank you, sir!
I have owned the Legend and know very well the Cetus MV et Currituck. The Legend has much more volume for your stuff, a lot easier to pack especially vs the Cetus MV. And, very important, the Legend respond a lot better than the other two when loaded. The loaded Legend has an incredible secondary stability. Just check the side of this kayak and you’ll understand why.
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I wanted to thank all of you for your guidance. It’s been very helpful. I ended up ordering a Legend on Friday. I had no luck finding one regionally that I could try out, and I didn’t want to wait any longer – I’ll have the kayak in hand by Christmas, not sometime next spring.
It will no doubt be a challenge for me initially with its tippiness, but your own experiences with the boat have assured me that I’ll find it a good fit with some practice.
I could indeed be buying a pig in a poke getting one sight unseen, but I’m willing to take that chance for one of the few kayaks that checks off all of the requirements for my expedition.
Yes, it’s going to be a heavy brute. Time to start lifting! I decided to go with fiberglass. Discussions with the manufacturer convinced me of that for long-term durability and ease of repair.
My Missouri River trip is planned for the summer of 2025. It hardly seems real, but my purchase of this kayak is a real commitment and has made it so.
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Is it the Legend made by Seaward?
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Yes. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the quality of their work.
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When my wife and I first started kayaking we had a used Seaward tandem (the Gemini) purchased from an outfitter on San Juan Island. Subsequently I had a Seaward Endeavor and she, the Cosma TX. Each was a well made boat. They have discontinued making the TX (thermoform) models, sticking to the composites.
In our second season with the Gemini, while kayaking near Ladysmith the rudder blade sheared in two - an unusual event, likely due to some abuse when a rental. We were living in Nanaimo at the time and, on the way home, we stopped at the Seaward factory in Chemainus (nice folks there), bought the replacement, then installed it when we got home. Quite fortuitous.
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Update #1: Seaward Kayaks is going out of business. They have one Legend in stock if you are interested in this kayak. Not sure if any other company will pick up building Nigel Foster’s kayaks. I was lucky to order one when I did. I must say that Seaward’s craftsmanship is second to none.
Update #2: I’ve had my Legend since February but have only had it out on the water once. Not the fastest boat around, but not as tippy as I expected. Has a good amount of storage volume, but it’ll still be tight for a long trip. It has a hull with lines unlike any other kayak I own – it doesn’t fit well in my Yakima J-hooks and it doesn’t line up well front to back in them, but I think i can fix that well enough.