Okay you probably are getting tired of my posts / questions.
I am considering going from having two boats (a long boat like my GP and a short boat like the Romany I am considering) and just getting one as an all-arounder.
One boat that has really got me thinking is the Nordkapp LV. I have not paddled one and cannot really demo one near here, but have heard great things about it and it sounds like a boat that fits the bill of what I am looking for.
I want something reasonably fast but that is lively and playful. A boat that has long boat tracking and speed, but still has enough maneuverability and playfulness to make it a good play boat and one that is good at surfing (which most long boats are not the greatest at).
This seems like a boat that would fit this fairly well.
The other alternative for me is to keep my Greenlander Pro as a fast / expedition boat and then get a short playboat like a Romany for surfing, etc.
Price will be about the same for either option.
What do you think about the Nordkapp LV for this? Has anyone used it in the surf?
Matt
Any Nordkapp is outstanding.
Not Exactly…
Had mine about seven months now and not a lot of surf in the Keys, more like the irritating wind blown chop. The few times I’ve had it in bigger ocean waves but they weren’t breaking. It was very docile and controllable, I caught a few rides. There is a review that said it was the only boat the paddler could recover from a broach. There should be a bunch coming in country this summer and maybe the surfers will chime in.
This is not me… LV on the left
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4387/060218pict0109tfc1.jpg
An UK review in the surf.
http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.com/2007/01/valley-nordkapp-lv-test.html
The LV is extremely maneuverable for a long boat and surprises everyone that paddles it. It accelerates quickly and has a very efficient cruising speed but is not Epic fast top end. It feels quick and seams fast to other boats I paddle with. To relax and track for any distance I add about an inch of skeg slider.
The primary and secondary stability is not way up there and it took me some time to get used to it, but now almost every other boat feels boring.
Rear deck is still too high.
Just sitting in a LV in the show room and laying back on the rear deck is pretty painful for me. If you like doing back finishing G rolls, I think you’ll be disappointed.
I’d sum up the Nordkapps as, “love the hull, hate the rear deck.”
Paul
Great review…
thanks for posting that review. That was a very thorough one.
Sounds like an awesome boat (which is pretty much what I have heard already).
Only thing that I have read that I don’t like is the fact that it has low secondary. I like a boat with fairly low primary stability but like a noticeable wall of secondary. Sounds like this does not have much noticeable secondary at all.
Matt
I think it depends where you are…
coming from. The surfski folks think there is a ton of secondary.
Most seayakers find it vague at first but you learn to feel it. It’s a boat you have to paddle but feels stable in the bumps.
scoot forward…
Paul,
The Nordkapp LV is in my opinion one of the best rolling production sea kayaks out there. Layback rolls, forward finishing, etc. are all ridiculously easy in that boat. When I was rolling without a paddle, I just scooted up in the cockpit slightly to get comfortable layback rolls of it. You have to try it out. It’s pretty remarkable.
Alex
Intuitive - nearly rolls itself -
- maybe best described as: A hell of a lot of fun!
Great maneuverability and still easy to hold on line. Fair speed - fine for touring. If I didn’t regularly paddle faster kayaks (QCC700 and skinnier/longer skin boat) I’d say “good speed” - but all things relative… I should also note that the LV rides a bit lower with me in it so I have to push more water and this limits top end for me - but it’s still more than good enough for all but prolonged fast touring or racing.
I only tried Grayhawk’s briefly on flat water - with only the usual “I’ll try whatever I can” level of curiosity and no real interest - and ended up really wanting to try one in some textured stuff - it’s out of it’s element on flat - and thinking I could have a place for that sort of responsiveness…
I think it could make a fine all-arounder - depending on paddler size and needs.
cetus
fits your bill.
Peter
I’ll have to try it.
Alex, good point about the (my) seat position. I used to think the Tempest seat should be further back for ease of butt first entry in the cockpit, but now I realize how much the forward seat relative to back of coaming helps with comfy lay back.
I’ll be pleasantly astounded if the 'kapp LV hand rolls as nice as a Romany or Explorer, but I’m anxious to give it a try now. Certainly at WCSKS if I don’t get a chance sooner. Thanks for the suggestion on scooting forward.
Paul
Mega Jester Bullit, Neutron, Scarab or
Impulse for pure surf action. Have long boats and short boats, but nothing equates on a wave face like a true surf boat.
Dogmaticus
aquaman, the back deck
Aquaman, you mentioned the back deck height in my Nordy thread also. You and Schizopak are more mature rollers than this newb, and I have yet to try a roll in my Nord HM (although I did roll Puddlejumpers Prijon Kodiak this past Sunday; talk about a high rear deck!), but according to Dubside in his DVD (he could roll a manatee, as we all know), he says specifically to get that butt up off the seat. He makes quite a point of it, actually. And with that, can layback on any rear deck. Just an observation.
I hope you join the 'Kapp Klub. I think you said you had a line on a used one.
Back Deck…
My primary roll is not a layback roll so it is not much of an issue for me.
If you have a strong roll then they all roll pretty easy…some maybe slightly more easily than others.
Matt
Good point on lifting butt out of seat.
It’s still not as much fun though if the coaming presses hard on my back. My back is the lever to lift my butt out of the seat. So I don’t feel as much like I’m dancing in the water.
Matt mentioned below that he’s not doing layback rolls, so not an issue there. Actually not too much of an issue for my bread and butter modified Eskimo roll as I don’t lay all the way back on the deck. I just feel more stable coming up in the slightly sitting up positon. But for the others, butterfly, shotgun, norsaq, hand, (especially the last 3) it’s all the way back, chin pointing toward the sky, back of the head on the deck. That’s where it matters.
Paul
Nordkapp LV review
Hello from Scotland,
I posted the Nordkapp LV review over on seakayakphoto.com. With respect to secondary stability I agree that if you lean it on flat water you do not come up against an increasing feeling of stability before it finally goes over.
However, in the typical rough water we get here in Scotland (round wind against tide headlands with swell and clapotis for good measure) a boat like the Nordkapp LV feels far more secure than many boats I have paddled that offer greater flat water stability.
I find it stable enough that I am quite happy getting my very non waterproof Canon D5 (with image stabilised L lens) out of my deck bag and using it in swell.
Rolling per se is not my main sea kayaking interest and I am sure if it was I would have a kayak whose design parameters favoured rolling. Let me just say that on the big surf day at Coldingham…
http://www.gla.ac.uk/medicalgenetics/seakayaking_coldingham060218.htm
…I lost count of the trashings I had and the number of subsequent successful rolls I had thanks to the Nordkapp LV. I only swam twice that day, for some that may sound two too many but I believe the Norkapp LV has demontrated excellent ease of rolling in extreme conditions.
It is not perfect. My perfect boat would be the Nordkapp LV with Rockpool cockpit, seat, thigh grips and footrest.
Douglas :o)
Secondary…
I don’t know but I just have a prefer a boat that has a noticeable point where secondary stability kicks in. It does not have to be super high but I like the feel of knowing when the boat is on the balance point for doing deeply edged bow rudders, etc. I also like it because I like the feeling it gives to a boat in rough beam seas where you can feel the boat become increasingly more stable on the face of a large and steep beam wave.
It’s just a preference.
That’s the only issue about this boat that would make me wonder whether it is optimal for me…otherwise it sounds like a phenominal boat! Great review by the way…and awesome picture. Why weren’t you guys out surfing those little breakers? Just kidding.
Matt
Douglas… Thanks for the review…
It was a great help in my decision to order the LV.
Just amazing pics and scenery.
I second what G-hawk just wrote.
Your review is one of the first to come up on websearch of Nordkapp LV, thus plenty of eyeballs checking it out, so thanks for posting it. Very well done.
I’m somewhat surprised by the
comments about the secondary stability of the Nordkapp LV. I have a plastic Aquanaut LV and Peter and the boys at Valley tell me that my next step will be the Nordkapp LV.
The Aquanaut (both primary and secondary) has incredible stability; at least for my body type. Is the Nordkapp LV that much different, except for a few inches in length and half an inch or inch at the beam?