Tiderace Xplore sea kayak review

I posted a review of the Tiderace Xplore expedition sea kayak at http://paulstivers.com/?page_id=2



After a week or so I’ll send a copy to p.net to place in their kayak reviews section.



You can attach comments to the article by clicking ‘comments’ in the dateline of the post.



Paul

Gorgeous!
That’s a beautiful sea kayak. Congrats, and thanks for sharing!

Xplore_X comming out too.

– Last Updated: Jan-13-09 9:56 AM EST –

Aled replied in an email yesterday that an Xplore_X (the bigger version) has been finished and will be in production within the next three months. Now there's an Xplore_S, Xplore, and Xplore_X.

The Xplore can hold a 240 lb paddler no problem. The Xplore_X could be one of those rare boats for the 250-300 lb paddler.

I replied, "Any plans to produce an Xcite_S and Xcite_X?"

If I got down to 200-210 lb and stayed there, which is my plan, I think I'd be near the top end of paddler weight for the Xcite.

Paul

Thanks!
Great comments on the secondary stability, whatever the engineers say it is, especially since we have an NDK Explorer and Romany as well as a Nordlow in the fleet. So your explanation of what it felt like past about 15 degrees is very clear.



Personally, I am also waiting for an Excite S to get within a reachable distance of me - reachable being anything I can make in a car even if it means an overnight stay. I also need to test my flexibility against that centered day hatch in the real thing. Though I normally have no qualms about opening a day hatch, I’d have to try the centered one to see if my limberness is adequate.

New York Kayak Co.
Celia,



Good timing. I received this email just today. I posted it also on my website with links to the 4 attachments, as I believe Tiderace Kayaks Co. would welcome the relay of info. (I replied to ask permission and will remove the post in 48 hrs if I do not hear back.)



Topic: Tiderace Sea Kayaks - Dealer on East Coast US



Thank you for your interest in our sea kayaks!



Tiderace Sea Kayaks are pleased to advise that Randy Hendrikson at the New York Kayak Co has agreed to handle the Tiderace range of kayaks on the US East Coast. The first shipment will be arriving in early March.



Below, you will find links to our flyer showing kayak specs, a list of available stock boats and our colour picker for those who want to design their own “personalised” colour scheme for a future delivery.



Randy can be reached at:

New York Kayak Co.

40 N. River Piers (Pier 40)

W. Houston & West St.

New York, NY 10014

212-924-1327 800-529-2599

Randall@nykayak.com



Best regards,

Aled and Dave

Tiderace Seakayaks



Attachments:



Flyer - Page1.pdf



Flyer - Page2.pdf



New York Kayak Company - Stock



New York Kayak Company - Tiderace Designer

Cool!
TideRace in the Northeast!

Thank you much!
Better timing than you know. We had a crisis and I am tied up with eldercare issues probably into March. So it’s a really nice treat to be able to consider a trip down the Thruway once the ice floes are out.

Great review
Thanks for taking the time to write an excellent review! Having been the happy owner of an Xplore (Hardcore lay-up) since around Easter last year I agree with most of your comments. A couple of additional points:


  • I found the Xplore to be an excellent expedition kayak on an eight day trip this summer. It swallowed all my gear, in spite of the low rear deck. Fully laden it got very stable while maintaining its speed potential.
  • Because of the bungee rigging being more forward than usual, I got a spraydeck with D-rings and shock chords for securing my GPS and charts. Works well.
  • The Kajak Sport backrest had to go. It kept pinching my skin between backrest and seat, very annoying. A simple backband was much better.
  • I had to epoxy eyelets inside the hull for securing the two large rubber hatches with chords and drilled 1 mm diam. breathing holes in the bulkheads, in my opinion this should really have been take care of during production. (This spring, after launching the sun-heated kayak in icy cold water I watched the front hatch almost implode after a while. Knowing that it was unsecured and not floating made me rather uneasy.)



    For me, the Xplore’s performance makes it the perfect combination of day trip and expedition kayak. The fact that it looks great on the water and has a terrific build quality isn’t wrong either.

Thanks

– Last Updated: Jan-16-09 12:27 AM EST –

Oh yeah, I forgot about the lack of tethers for the hatch covers. I'm guessing that's fixed on the 2009 models.

Of course with the Kajak Sport covers it's easy to rig an exterior tether. There's that deep groove on the edge to lasso with a tether. But I agree, it should already be done by interior tether.

I didn't know that some kayaks came with the vent hole drilled in the bulkhead. Makes sense though. Hardest part for the customer to do it is finding a 1/32" (or approx. metric equivalent) bit.

Thanks for adding your thoughts on the boat as a tourer. I felt I underrepresented the boat a bit in that I lean toward tour/play mix.

Paul

Tiderace at Kayak Academy
The Kayak Academy is now the official Tiderace dealer for Washington. We have all models in stock for Demo and we are projecting a 3 month lead for custom boats.



Bob Burnett

The Kayak Academy

www.kayakacademy.com

206-527-1825

TiderRace Xplor speed/ performance
George at Kayak Academy kept pestering me about trying a TideRace. Out of frustration I agreed to try a TideRace Xplor on Lake Samammish near Seattle on New Years day 2010.



My standard course for flat water boat speed tests is about 0.78NM. I tried the Xplor and came out at 10 minutes 7 seconds. I ran my NDK Explorer over the same track and made it in 11 minutes.



I thought there was a problem so I went back to make several runs over a number of weeks using the NDK Explorer. I finally got my time down to 9’50" in the NDK Explorer. I felt quite pleased since that time was very close to a Mariner II time. I have been a great Mariner fan for may years.



Today, Feb 3, 2010, I tried the TideRace Xplor over the same course and did it in 9 minutes flat. The minimum speed on the GPS was 4.6 Knots with the exception of one time I tried to wipe the water off the GPS and it fell to 4.4 Knots. I have run this in my NDK Explorer many times. With an equivalent level effort it takes 9’50"



The Xplor is a VERY FAST boat and it still has GREAT CRISP carved turns. I am a 250lb 63 year old athlete want-to-be. This is a great boat.



My only regret is that I listened to George and tried the boat. It is like drugs…once you get on it is hard to get off.



I am now a poor, but happy new TideRace Xplor owner.

TFox