hello would like to hear from any p&h quest lv owners as regards to the performence and handling of the boat iam 5f 8ins and 12st would this be a good weight to paddle this boat as i hear it is a good all rounder thanks louie.
Demo’d it for a few weeks…
I like it at first, but wasn’t a big fan in following seas or really rough stuff…
This could have been fixed possibly by lowering the seat. It was mounted a bit high, and I think that contributed to it’s squirrely feel…
Well made though, and very comfortable for a guy my size (5’10", 180 lbs)
Paddled one a few times
I’m 6’0" 175 lbs. I considered myself to be about as big of a person that could comfortably paddle it, but it’s really a matter of just sitting in it and seeing how it feels to you. I paddled it in flatwater, the ocean, and played around in beach surf.
My friend bought one, and I really fell in love with it the times I got to paddle it, especially the day on the beach where I got to play in rough water and do a little surfing. I hadn’t thought about it for a while, until I went down to the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival this past spring. I spent a day just demoing boats, mostly edging/turning characteristics, bracing, rolling, guessing how their cruising speed felt, and just seeing how they felt on the little flatwater pond there. There were a lot of boats there (Valley, NDK, Point 65 North, Current Designs, Impex, Epic, etc.) that I was excited about trying, and a lot that I liked about many. Somewhere in the middle, while waiting to try another boat, they asked me if there was anything else I’d like to try while waiting. I saw the Quest LV there, said I had already paddled one a few times, but thought it might be a good idea, figuring it would provide a good point of reference. I had forgotten how good it felt. In any case, at the end of a fun afternoon of many demos, another one of the guys demoing asked me what my favorite was. I thought about it for a couple seconds, and told him it actually surprised even me, but even on that flatwater pond the P&H Quest LV stood out for me above the rest as the one I would want to do my regular paddling in.
A little about me to put my preferences in perspective. I like to cover some miles, average cruising pace a little better than 4 knots when I’m on my own. I like to play in some rougher water along the way, and I like a kayak with a good turn of speed to avoid hitting a wall fighting tidal currents. A following sea is fast and fun, and I always am looking to catch rides. A faster hull seems to aid in catching rides too. I feel very comfortable edging kayaks, so I like a kayak that shifts from edge to edge very easily, but some firmness in secondary stability once well on edge seems to smooth out transitioning on and off edges in rough water for me.
It really is the number 1 boat on my list of kayaks that I would love to own, so hopefully I will make that happen sometime in the not-too-distant future. But the way people like to kayak, how physically active they enjoy getting/are able to get, the conditions they enjoy kayaking in, what they want to do in those conditions (traveling 8 miles in wind-driven ocean waves or playfully circling around in a playspot) all have a lot to do with your ideal kayak. This kayak fits the all-purpose category for me quite nicely.