I sat in but did not paddle the new P&H rotomolded capella and the new Bahiya.<br />
There were some things that did not impress me, and some things that did.
new capella. the foredeck is lower, and flatter this is a "+". The coaming however is not as recessed and sticks up more than it used to, this I didn't like. The new hatch covers, are kajaksport obviously, this is always good. The seat itself is nice, but the back band did not allow me to lay back. This was bad. The new seat seemed nice but paddling it will tell. The hull has less rocker so it is supposed to track better. We'll see... The bulkheads are plastic and now glued instead of welded. This in and of itself isn't bad, but time will tell if the quality stays consistent it could be excellent. I would like to get it out with an IR backband and paddle it for a few hours to see.
The new bahiya looks promising, but it appears that it has A LOT of volume ahead of the cockpit compared to the sirius. But it could paddle just fine, it definitely has a deep v in the hull and hard chines, very nice hull profile. But I would need to paddle it to see how it handles. The glass work was top notch on the one I saw. All told from appearances it looks like a low volume quest more than it looks like a longer version of the sirius. But We'll see.
Capella thigh braces Did the thigh brace fit around your leg or jut down into it? I couldn’t get it to come close to surround my leg, only press into it and wondered if you found the same thing.
Stopped by this past Monday. Checked out the new Capella for the first time. The aluminum foot peg rails and the pegs themselves seem to be a step up. The thigh braces were not impressive. You shouldn’t have to spend that much money on something and then remove the newest features to make it work. I’m not sure why P&H raised the seat back. The old seat felt much more comfy to me altogether, even with the original backband. As for the new hatch configuration, I think the day hatch is a great idea, but I have two problems with it. I had to man-handle it with both hands to get it seated back on (not real conducive to on-the-water access). My other complaint is that it splits the largest portion of the largest compartment. With the skeg box blocking off the tail, I’d really like the space availible more than the options that a day hatch may provide for packing.
An observation of mine over my few years of boat buying and trading is that all this stuff on the inside of the hull,
seat, thigh braces, and backband, are all interchangeable, no one can get it right for everyone, and it is very easy to change.
Check out brian nystrom’s webshots for his customizations on his kayaks, I followed his instructions on how to make a custom seat, it worked really well.
