First, know that I am the owner of JEM Watercraft. I designed and built
the Cape Fear 16 myself. I’ll try to be as objective as possible
although I’m very pleased with how it did.
The Cape Fear is designed as a recreational kayak so it’s meant for
general purpose paddling, family outings, fishing in protected/calm
waters, etc. Not meant to be as fast as a touring kayak or maneuverable
as a white water yak.
I paddled on March 20, 2004 in Greensboro, NC on lake Brandt. Somewhat
windy conditions, 16-20 mph steady with an occasional gust. Brandt is an
816-acre municipal reservoir so it’s not huge but it’s big enough to let
the wind kick up the water into a minor chop. I had 5-6 inches waves
spaced in very short intervals and coming from different directions. You
could look out and see the waves moving in different paths. Hardly ocean
swells but not smooth waters. In addition, I had power boats zipping all
around me.
The launch from the dock area was good. But once I got around the tip of
the inlet, instant wind. I wasn’t ready for it and the boat began to
turn from the wind because I was at 45 degrees to the wind and waves. I
corrected to go into the wind head on. Had a constant small choppy soup
to deal with but the yak bit into the waves well and rolled over the
bigger ones easily. I had a ski boat launching next to me so I stopped
paddling to let him go by. Apparently he thought it would be fun to come
within 20 yards of me and give the engine all it had. His wake came at
me directly sideways but I was ready. The yak rolled nicely with no
sudden tippy feeling. To be honest, I thought it would be worse. The
power boat was moving pretty good by the time he passed me.
She tracked very well through the wind and soup I was in. But it got old
quick. It was the kind of conditions where you put your paddle in the
water and it feels likes it’s getting pulled through the water at the
beginning of your stroke. She handled very well and not once did it feel
unstable. I built her light out of marine plywood and fiberglass. Very
responsive compared to the Tarpon 160 I paddled recently. I’ll get an
official weight soon. Can you believe I don’t have a scale in the house?
I finally got over to one of the coves about ½ mile away where the wind
was blocked and I could play around. Maneuverability was good to very
good for a 16-foot yak. I leaned over to heel her up to the upper chine,
22 degrees, and she felt very stable. No tippy feeling or sudden “loose”
spots.
Since I’m designing this one to be also made as a Sit On Top, I brought
along something to raise my seat position to simulate a SOT. I taped 2
Greensboro, NC phone books inside a plastic bag together for a total
height of 6 inches, which will be 2 more than the seat height I intend
for the SOT. I grabbed them from the back and the yak felt very stable
as I was turning around and messing with the gear. Sat on top of the
books and started to paddle. I noticed very little difference in
stability. I was quite pleased. I liked the higher paddling position
better because I when sitting on the floor as a Side-Inside, it felt
like I was raising my paddle about 2 inches higher than I would with my
normal strokes. I cruised around, made some turns, leaned back and forth
while on the phone books. No problem at all.
With me being 6’2 and 220 pounds and I had about 20 pounds worth of
stuff with me, she drafted only about 3-3.5 inches of water. I judged
this be putting my middle finger tip in the water and then held it
against the side of the boat. The upper chine, which is 6.5” above the
bottom at mid-ship, came up to the top of my finger, which is 3” (I have
long hands).
To summarize:
Pluses: Very stable even with the higher seating position. Plenty of
reserve buoyancy. Tracked well. Turns well for a 16’ yak. Paddled
efficiently but it was hard to get a really good feel because of the wind.
Minuses: As a sit-inside, the sides are almost too high but that’s if
you’re sitting on the floor. Get a nice seat cushion with 2” of padding
and you’re golden. Wind grabbed it pretty good but I think almost any
yak would have been tossed around.
I’m pleased how it turned out. Should make for a very nice recreational
yak and SOT once that design is done.
Picture of the prototype at
http://www.jem.e-boat.net/CapeFearProtoImages.php
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Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/