Kayak for short legs but wide hips

[ForeverYoung]

I have been paddling for nearly 2 years now and so starting to get a feel for what is holding me back now with my boat.

I currently have an Ysak Dag, which I have enjoyed, but I am starting to think I will need something else soon. It's not very maneuverable and super hard to edge. It also gets quite badly affected by the wind. It is incredibly stable, which is lovely, but probably too high volume for me.

I am only 152cm tall, and currently weigh around 70kg. A huge amount of this weight is in my hips and thighs. I wear size 16 - 18 trousers.

I suspect I want something medium volume, but it needs to have lots of thigh space, and the ability to bring the foot pegs really really close!

I am losing weight at the moment, and my pattern tends to be that I lose weight for a few years, keep it low for a bit, and then find it too hard work to keep the weight there and it goes back on for a few years. So in the interests of not buying a new kayak every few years, I think I want something which I can fit in just now but I'm at the top of the weight range for so that it's still fine at the full range of weight changes. But even when I am light, I still have monster thighs and hips.

Realistically, I'm probably not actually buying anything until next year as I will need to save for it, but I want to start working out what I want to try and see what I can get hold of. I will be looking to buy second hand.

Any thoughts on what I should be trying out?

[on the rocks]

My wife paddles a Rockpool Isel and is similar to you including hips and short legs. The Isel is a low volume boat but at 70kg and reducing I think a MV boat would be too big, and short legs hard to engage knees properly. The footplate has lots of adjustment. We both bought Isels as our first boats and progressed to 4* level reasonably quickly. Unfortunately they don’t come up second hand very often, but if you are ever in Anglesey you should be able to call in at the works,

[ForeverYoung]

My wife paddles a Rockpool Isel and is similar to you including hips and short legs. The Isel is a low volume boat but at 70kg and reducing I think a MV boat would be too big, and short legs hard to engage knees properly. The footplate has lots of adjustment. We both bought Isels as our first boats and progressed to 4* level reasonably quickly. Unfortunately they don’t come up second hand very often, but if you are ever in Anglesey you should be able to call in at the works,

Interesting, thanks. My local shop (5 mins walk away) actually stocks Rock pool, so I could try that easily I think. However, I hadn't asked to as I was veering more towards plastic ones both for budget friendliness and that we haven't yet built proper storage racks so they currently sit out in the garden.

However, maybe it's worth trying anyway, and if it turns out to be a really good fit then maybe it just delays how long it takes me to buy one, and get it end of next summer instead.

I will see if I can squeeze into that!

[Sean_soup]

However, maybe it's worth trying anyway, and if it turns out to be a really good fit then maybe it just delays how long it takes me to buy one, and get it end of next summer instead.

Your local shop is one of the better ones. I think I would. Despite being a very regular visitor to Anglesey, I actually ordered my SKUK boat through them after borrowing one of theirs try out at FoL and properly make my mind up that I really did want one. (It was a good call for me - still love it.)

I don't know how busy Rockpool are lately but their factory is tiny, much smaller than their rival next door, and lead times for new boats ordered have sometimes been rather on the long side. It might be no bad thing if you decide you do want one when you're ready but you're in no hurry for it!
(If you try it sooner and find you like it, that would also give you the opportunity to keep an eye out for a S/H one - they don't come up very often, but they do come up.)

You might get lucky with what fits you, but good plastic boats for smaller paddlers can be hard to come by. The tooling costs of setting up to manufacture plastic boats are much higher than composite, and manufacturers often aren't that interested because the sales of those boats are lower volume as well. For example P&H stopped making the Delphin 150 when the mould needed to be replaced, and they decided they hadn't sold enough of them to justify the investment.

[Chris Bolton]

I have a P&H Virgo LV, which I lent to a friend last week. He's a heavily built 6ft 4" and we weren't sure he'd fit, it being an LV (when he raced composite slalom canoes he had to have extra volume added). I've modified it slightly for my long legs but the seat and thigh braces are standard. He expected that his thighs would be a problem but slid straight in and said it fitted him really well. So it might be worth trying a Virgo, and if the LV is too tight there's an MV which is wider.

[leighv]

I would second the suggestion of a P&H Virgo. The only potential issue is that the thigh braces may not sit far back enough to hook your thighs, even when adjusted as far back as they’ll go. I have relatively short legs (28” inseam) and find that the thigh braces on P&H plastic boats tend to be around my knees, which is fine and I’ve learned to paddle that way.

But definitely try a Virgo in LV and MV and see how it feels for you.

[Chris Bolton]

The only potential issue is that the thigh braces may not sit far back enough to hook your thighs, even when adjusted as far back as they’ll go

The seat position is also adjustable, and moving it forward will help get weight in the right place. The adjustment is a bit fiddly but I seem to remember it was possible to squeeze a bit more adjustment than P&H originally intended (in my case, in the opposite direction).

[ForeverYoung]

I have a P&H Virgo LV, which I lent to a friend last week. He's a heavily built 6ft 4" and we weren't sure he'd fit, it being an LV (when he raced composite slalom canoes he had to have extra volume added). I've modified it slightly for my long legs but the seat and thigh braces are standard. He expected that his thighs would be a problem but slid straight in and said it fitted him really well. So it might be worth trying a Virgo, and if the LV is too tight there's an MV which is wider.

Interesting. I did try a Virgo which someone lent when I first started and it was enormous, but maybe that was a HV then. I will see if anyone nearby has a lower volume one. I don't think our local shop does, I think she only has a HV, if I remember correctly.

[ForeverYoung]

I would second the suggestion of a P&H Virgo. The only potential issue is that the thigh braces may not sit far back enough to hook your thighs, even when adjusted as far back as they’ll go. I have relatively short legs (28” inseam) and find that the thigh braces on P&H plastic boats tend to be around my knees, which is fine and I’ve learned to paddle that way.

But definitely try a Virgo in LV and MV and see how it feels for you.

I don't think I have sat in a boat yet where the thigh braces are at my thighs!! I have my knees tucked under them, and that feels pretty normal for me now. Maybe I will need to relearn all of my kayaking if I get a boat which is the right size! lol

[Sean_soup]

Interesting. I did try a Virgo which someone lent when I first started and it was enormous, but maybe that was a HV then.

Not necessarily, the MV is big enough. Do you remember whether it had a day-hatch behind the cockpit? The HV has and the MV hasn't.

[ForeverYoung]

Interesting. I did try a Virgo which someone lent when I first started and it was enormous, but maybe that was a HV then.

Not necessarily, the MV is big enough. Do you remember whether it had a day-hatch behind the cockpit? The HV has and the MV hasn't.

No, don't remember. I just remember that it was so wide that I could sit cross legged in it 😂 I think it was most likely the HV

[Chris Bolton]

I just remember that it was so wide that I could sit cross legged in it

So you can be confident that you'll fit in at least one of the Virgo range!

I understand they are sized for Americans - hence the option for a skudder (skeg/rudder) - why anyone needs a rudder on a 14ft 6in kayak that turns easily is a mystery to me, but apparently that's what they want over there.

The LV is not a slow boat, I tested mine on 3 min sprints and it's only 3% slower than my Rockpool GT. I have never had a problem keeping up on club trips.

[simon64]

A slightly odd one to look a is the Dagger Stratos 12.5, I tried one and own the longer version, the shorter kayak seemed just as fast as the longer version and a bit less agile which is not what I expected at all, its worth a look, Up and Under in Cardiff had some at half price.