Am curious to learn more about the newer boats termed “fitness” or “multisport” kayaks which seem to be gaining in popularity. Some boat makers seem to be moving towards a cross between a surf-ski and a closed cockpit sea kayak. Reason I’m intrigued is because a year or two ago I joined some local surf ski guys (including Mark Ceconi who paddles out of Cos Cob CT) to try out a surf ski – paddled a “beginner” ski called the Epic V10 Sport – and really enjoyed it. Having the knees free and up high was a great feeling and the speed was fun. I have always liked small/short sea kayaks but when I really think about it, most of the time I’m just going in a straight line. The trade-off between having a faster boat with a high/free knee position, but being less maneuverable than a standard sea kayak, seems like it might be worth it on many days. Hence the ski seems appealing. But now to complicate the whole issue, they’ve come up with this new thing called a fitness kayak that puts a closed cockpit on a surf ski and gives it a higher deck so you can still pump your knees a bit and now also roll the boat in rough water. If anyone has tried any of these boats – I’d be interested to hear their thoughts.

Some models out there include - Valley “Rapier”; Think “Fit”; Rockpool “Taran”; Epic “18X”; Kayakpro “Nemo”; others…?