I heard from a Cdn retailer that there had been changes to this boat for the '07 model year, making it slower and less responsive. This boat (rotomolded version) was on my shortlist for a first boat, but if this is true...
Has anyone tried one of the '07 Carolinas?
Tks
I hope not
I have an older Carolina and still love it
whenever I take someone out kayaking, I let the use my Carolina. Someday I’ll put a rudder on it, but for now I have 4 different people waiting for me to have a day off so they can kayak with me. Carolina 14.5 is underrated but a fantastic boat for beginners.
maiden voyage in Perception Carolina 14
I just returned from my maiden voyage in my new '07 Perception Carolina! I don’t know that I can help you much though because I am a very new beginner and don’t know much about the kayak anyway. I took it to a small lake and it seemed to do okay for me. I did seem to list to the right but that was probably me and not the kayak. Not having had a different one to compare with leaves me kinda not much help! But - I have to say I made it without capsizing and I only got my feet a bit wet on entry and exit! I need a lot of work on my paddling skills though…
don’t believe
everything you read.
why would we re-design it to be slow and un-responsive? oh yeah and we made it waaaayyy less stable too.
There is plenty of discussion in the archives. The Carolina is totally re-designed for ‘07. It’s quieter and more effecient moving thru the water and the stability platform is much improved over ‘many’ ol’ Carolinas…there are a BUNCH…some good, some bad and some so-so. IMO the new ones are the best and why NOT? modern design tools and testing has made us a BETTER Carolina.
Give it a try!
steve
R/D TEAM -Confluence Watersports
Quieter
I like that idea. Reduce that bow wave gurgling.
Carolina 14.5
First season in my first boat. I got an 06 Carolina 14.5 on close-out last fall and am absolutely loving it. I’ve routinely put in multiple 5-10 mi paddles on the local rivers over the past few weeks. Now that I think about it, the bow can be a bit noisy at speed with water gurgling (as the other poster mentioned), but I can’t really come up with any other negatives, especially for the price. Plenty of storage space!
We’ll probably end up going with another Confluence boat within the year… the wife and I sat in a Dagger Approach 10 the other day and it felt “right” for her boat. I like the fact that I can take it out in mild whitewater and play around. I must confess, I have even had the Carolina in some class I-II plowing through waves to get as wet as possible (without flipping). Haven’t flipped yet which says something for the Carolina’s stability!
Thanks
to all who responded, even those who thought their comments might not be helpful – they were!
We’re off to shop, and book trials, and will include the Carolina…we’ll let you know what happens!
Sounds like his way of saying
"I don’t stock those boats. Buy the ones I do stock."
I remember reading that in one of
the paddling mags. It’s not unusual for a manufactorer to change designs from year to year.
especially when…
there is a BIG merger (Confluence buys Watermark) and a new design team comes in to kick some butt. BRING in the NEW!!!
steve
The retailer in question did sell
Perception 'yaks in previous years, but have now stopped. It’s the reason they gave. I didn’t necessarily believe them 
So, DS and I tried the Carolina 14.5 in choppy water on Monday and liked it’s handling. She, however, is ‘narrower across the beam’ than I, and the Tsunami 140 she tried tonight was a better fit for her. It will likely be her choice. Were I buying my boat this year, it would be the Carolina, and likely will be when I do buy next year…so don’t go changing it again, Steve!
Thanks to all.
Martine
Carolina 14.5
Owned a plastic Carolina and then an Airilite and they were both good boats especially for the money. Vaughn Fulton
naw…
we’ll get a bunch of years outta the new Carolina!!!
steve