I recently got a “too good to resist” deal on a 2000 Eddyline Falcon and got it out for the first time today. The stock seat pan took some getting used to. There’s a very pronounced hump in the center, making it feel almost like a bicycle seat. At first it felt very funny, but after a while I stopped noticing it. It does give a very locked in feel when you also push the legs into the thigh braces.
I’m wondering if this seat is something unique to my older kayak, or is it a style used elsewhere? I don’t know if I would choose it over a more conventional seat, but it is surprising how well it works.
There is a nylon-covered foam pad that goes over the seat. With pressure on the toe pegs pushing you back and knees angled out toward the thigh pads you don’t actually press on the center hump in an uncomfortable way. But I imagine the fact that the seat looks like a torture device probably caused Eddyline to drop the concept.
My Anas Acuta has a similar seat and even my older 18X had a similar one before Epic changed to a “surfski seat” ( just a smooth rounded seat).
As long as the “flat” area is big enough for you to rotate your butt in the seat, they can be OK, otherwise you will rise up and over the hump on each stroke / rotation and that cause chafing and or even bruising on a very long trip.
Keep in mind that as you go for more speed you tend to get away from the “splayed-out” position ( which is good for stability but poor for rotation) and tend to adopt a knees and feet close together position ( better for rotation, worse for stability). The latter doesn’t always work well with this kind of “tractor” seat.
I really like it, but have only used it twice on lakes with calm water and max winds of 10 mph or so. It feels fast and edges turns very nicely. And it’s far less “tippy” than I expected. With it’s deep vee, I expected a kayak that had to be actively paddled to stay upright. But while it feels “responsive”, it doesn’t feel like it constantly wants to tip off the keel. I can rest, take pictures, look behind me without feeling unstable.
In the modest winds I’ve been in, it’s very balanced as far as weather cocking. It actually will turn beam-on to the wind if you let it drift, but doesn’t fight back if you turn it upwind or downwind. This 2000 version has no skeg or rudder but hasn’t needed one yet. The only drawback I could mention is that both hatches have smallish 9 inch openings. I guess they enlarged the rear hatch when they switched to the ABS construction (my 2000 version is Kevlar).
The cockpit has a nice feel (even with the weird seat) and the nylon seat cover incorporates sleeves for hip pads so it’s easy to customize the fit. For reference, I weigh 165 lbs and am 6 ft tall.
I have my eye on a Wilderness Systems Sparrow Hawk mainly for its 42 lbs. I have 2 issues stopping me , 1st ; I’m in Canada, and the border is closed for us to cross into the U.S. because we are a high Covid threat to the American public? and 2nd roadblock is my wife would not be happy.
I owned the larger cousin 18 foot Arctic Hawk for a few years. For what it’s worth, I found it less stable that the Falcon 18. It seemed to want to tip off center if you didn’t give it constant attention. But I sold it mostly because the cockpit got a little too short to get my old legs into.
