I came across a review of this kayak and it was quiet impressive. I’m not impressed with what I call “gimmick boats”,but this design while radical is impressive. They claim no one has been able to capsize the boat while in a seated position. Looking at the pics on their website they have a great platform for rigging. These boats have been around a while on the west coast and they have a few dealers on the east coast. Check it out!
http://www.santacruzkayaks.com/raptor_photos.html
http://www.santacruzkayaks.com/raptor_video.html
Ugh
– Last Updated: Mar-21-12 1:26 PM EST –
1. If it floats, it will flip. I've seen tug boats flip.
2. There was a catamaran design popular about ten years or so ago called the Stealth. There are plenty of inflatable cats out there. As kayaks, cats are heavy compared to single hulls, and are like a barge or carrier to turn (often sold as "excellent tracking"). As inflatables, they're pretty handy because they aren't paddled but rowed, which dramatically reduces the turning impediment. Inflatable hulls reduce weight compared to a hard shell cat. But you still get all the initial stability advantages of a wider platform that a cat gives.
3. While scupper holes do create drag, they're darned useful for disposing of water, which there tends to be quite a lot of when you are paddling. The Raptor does not seem to have a way of doing that. So it's either wear a skirt or do a lot of pumping. When you wear a skirt while fishing, you lose ease of access to your stuff. When you don't wear a skirt, you get a lot of extra weight from water and either have to paddle with all that stability reducing weight or pump it out. Plus, it's got two hulls. As drag goes, I'd have to think that the drag introduced by skupper holes is no greater than the drag introduced by greater surface area of a second hull.
So my advice is, if you want a catamaran paddle craft for fishing, get an inflatable. If you want a kayak for fishing, get a single hull. Maybe it's a great boat. But you asked for input based on the links and that's mine.
- Big D
Raptor SOT
http://www.kayakanglermag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1370:santa-cruz-teases-new-sit-on-top-updated&catid=73:buzz-bait&Itemid=142