Tempest 170 question

Advice
#1

Paddling about 2 years, I am 6’4" 200 lb size 13 shoe. Test paddled a Tempest 170 RM. Liked the performance of the boat. It had some of the best foot room height of the boats I’ve tried but I could not extend the foot pegs out far enough to get my feet on them. Dealer said that the foot pegs could be removed and the bulkhead could be foamed out. Or could the tracks be moved up further without screwing up the boat? Would appreciate any suggestions.

#2

just checked mine
…and the leading edge of the tracks are only about half an inch aft of the bulkhead. Strike “moving them forward” as an option, unless you DO want to pop the bulkhead forward and re-seal it. That, I believe, could cause a whole lot of other issues having to do with poor sealing, filling holes, etc.



If you really like the T-170, and don’t want to consider something else (a Scirocco? an Eclipse?), consider having your dealer order one WITHOUT the pegs or forward bulkhead installed and have them custom fitted at the shop. Figuring out the geometry of placing the track and fitting/installing the bulkhead to get a proper fit ain’t rocket science, so any reasonably competent dealership should be able to handle it. Just because it’s not advertised as an option, doesn’t mean that it can’t be done…

#3

Tracks
The tracks on this Tempest were quite away back from the bulkhead. I would guess 4 or more inches. Back edge is not too far from front of cockpit edge.(I would give you exact measurements but boat is 2 1/2 hrs. away) I thought this was strange for a boat this size.



Dealer is closing this one out for $900.00. Seems like a good price ?



I am also looking at a Chatham 17, great boat but price is quite a bit higher.

#4

yep
we had a few (dozen?) go out the door with the tracks back too far.



for that $$ sounds like a screamin’ deal. you can re-mount the pegs. another option is, if it’s close, move the seat back a bit. 4 bbolts and re-drill the seat (NOT the deck) you can get 1.5" in a roto boat.



steve

#5

Seat

– Last Updated: Sep-20-07 2:37 PM EST –

I moved my seat back the 1.5" that flatpick recommends a few years ago and it helped my fit in the boat. Just last spring I did drill new holes in the boat/deck to move it back another 2" on top of the original 1.5" and now I am in love again. I wish I had done that a long time ago. For some reason my T never seemed balanced. I could never tune the skeg like I could with other skeg boats, it always weathercocked, it was just a matter of how much. I took to adding ballast way aft to tune it. After I moved the seat back this past spring the boat is much more comfortable and easy to get in and out of and now it is tune-able with the skeg, without ballast.

db

#6

Reply to dbetz
Your reply really hit home. The Tempest seems to have one of the tighter fits of the boats I’ve tried . I had to slide in from the back deck ( A lot of my 6’4" is in my legs ) But I just chalked it up to being used to the big cockpit of the Breeze. The Tempest 170 has some of the best height for your feet of the boats I tried.

#7

Thanks to Flatpick
Bought the 170 Tempest (and a 165 for my wife) re-drilled the seat and moved it back 1 1/2" fit is much better.



May still move the tracks, but going to try it like this for awhile.



Thanks for the help

#8

Tempest 170 RM
I am considering buying a used Tempest 170 RM.

  1. What does the RM mean?
  2. I am about your size - 6’3", 200 lbs, long legs, size 12 shoes. 62 years old, so not as limber as I used to be. Intermediate paddler. Most of the kayaks I look at do not allow me to lift my knees/legs out of the cockpit while I am paddling. typically they hit the front of the cockpit just below my knees as I try to lift my legs. I find I need to be able to lift my knees or legs on long trips just to be able to relax my legs. Kayaks like the Storm and Tsunami 165 allow enough room because the cockpit it a little higher in front. After your work described in your discussions, have you found that the 170 RM provides you enough room to lift your knees/legs while paddling?
#9

Here a Danish youtube clip about how to enter a kayak and getting out of a kayak by sitting on the deck first and, at the samen time, have the support of the dock. Thereafter how to slide in the kayak.
Shown with a low dock and a higher dock

1 Like