kayak – fitness paddling

Pictures from 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge – kayaks and surfskis

Still digging in my paddling archives and memories – more random pictures from 2006 Watertribe Ultimate Florida Challenge, expedition style race around Florida. This time Fort Desoto beach again, but kayaks and surfskis participating in Everglades Challenge and Ultramarathon. Necky Loksha III kayak Necky Loksha III (19.5’x21″) paddled by JungleJim aka James Collins in Everglades …

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Sunrise and Sunset Paddling with WSBS Thunderbolt Kayak

boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

I started springtime paddling season with WSBS Thunderbolt kayak, the only boat in my paddling fleet I can reach 8 mph with (or at least try). There are four pictures below from the same lake (Beaver Pond in Arapaho Bend Natural Area) from paddling sessions starting before sunrise and in late afternoon. A very different …

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Outfitting Thunderbolt-X Kayak with a Full Tiller Bar Footrest

2 Comments / boats & gear / By Marek

A footrest for Thunderbolt-X kayak with a tiller bar steering installed by Hugo da Silva. He made a full footrest of 3/16 foam and carbon-fiber and a foam mount for a hand pump.

Would you like to share tips, experience, pictures of outfitting your racing kayak? Please write some comments below or send me e-mail. I would be happy to post them here.

Thunderbolt Kayak on the South Platte River 5 Years Ago

3 Comments / gallery / By Marek

Thunderbolt kayak and snow – climbing South Platte River shore at Evans Riverside Park

3 Kayaks: JKK Supernova, WSBS Thunderbolt-X and Sisson Nucleus 100

2 Comments / boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

I am still testing Jeremy’s JKK Supernova, a racing sea kayak from New Zealand. I did a couple of 5-7 mile runs on the Horsetooth Reservoir in a winter scenery including pretty windy conditions. Paddling was much drier than it would in my Thunderbolt kayak. The Supernova feels much more comfortable with my bumfortable foam seat. However, for a better comfort, I would have to trim the seat hangers as I did in my Thunderbolt.

I shot a few pictures of the Supernova together with Thundebolt-X kayak designed by Doug Bushnell from West Side Boat Shop. Supernova appears to be a few inches shorter than Thunderbolt, but much wider, and has much higher volume. Thunderbolt cockpit is placed more forward than in Supernova. I am going to measure these kayaks by myself. Data listed by manufactures are not very accurate.

Next, I added Sisson Nucleus 100, a multisport kayak from New Zealand, to the picture for a reference. I like that Grahame Sisson is specifying the sizes of cockpit opening for his kayaks.

These three kayaks have very different cockpits:
– Sisson Nucleus: a very roomy cockpit with a small opening (shorter than Supernova), but quite wide, tiller bar steering
– Thunderbolt: a long open cockpit, tiller bar steering,
– JKK Supernova: a roomy cockpit, but a very narrow opening, sea kayak fit, pedal steering

First Snow Paddling with JKK Multisport Supernova Kayak

6 Comments / boats & gear, gallery / By Marek

I had a chance to do some test paddling with Jeremy Rodger’s JKK Supernova kayak. It happen just after first snow storm in Fort Collins, so I had a pretty scenic paddling on Beaver Pond in the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. I am trying to compare this kayak to my Thunderbolt-X from West Side Boat Shop from a perspective of a long distance self supported paddling and racing.

JKK Supernova is a multisport kayak from New Zealand – the same length as my WSBS Thunderbolt (21′), 1″ wider beam (19″), but a much bigger volume and a lot of cargo space with bulkheads and hatches. It is a racing sea kayak. Jeremy wrote a review of the Supernova for my blog a few years ago.

First impressions of the Supernova: fast, stable, quite responsive, much more maneuverable than Thunderbolt.

The Supernova cockpit is pretty small and tight. It is really narrow!. The cockpit opening is only about 14.75″ wide while I have 16″ in my Thunderbolt kayak, and a generous 17″ in Sisson Nucleus 100 which has the same beam as the Supernova. So, the owners of wide hips beware.