kayaker’s
journal
INSIDE OUT BY TIM SHUFF The Eighteen5Sport
CHALLENGING the stereotype of what kind of kayaks you can make out of heat- moulded plastic, Delta Kayaks embodies all the ambition of a rock star stretching to com- pose a symphony. Tis company’s not stopping at the usual plastic rec and light-touring kay- aks, no way. Its fleet includes a Greenland-style performer, a 20-foot tandem, and even this—a true expedition-worthy long boat. Reminiscent of fibreglass stalwarts like the
Current Designs Expedition and Seaward Quest, only wider, the Eighteen5 Sport is the station wagon of the Delta fleet, a true cargo hauler with a stratospheric 256 litres of dry storage—the deeper Eighteen5 Expedition has 24 litres more and fits larger paddlers. Either boat will carry enough to paddle for a whole season without resupply. Tere are at least two reasons why nobody
has built such a long single kayak out of ther- moformed plastic until now. Te first we’ll get into later. Te second is that thermoform is more flexible than other materials, so it’s hard- er to mould longer designs. To overcome this, Delta has added a stiff-
ener to the inner hull, an arched piece of plas- tic that extends along the keel from the bow hatch to the stern hatch. When we slammed the Eighteen5 into large, steep wind waves, slight vibrations ran from our bums through to our neoprene-clad toes, but the stiffener kept the boat intact.
34 ADVENTURE KAYAK | SUMMER 2008 Te convenient, oversized hatches were per-
fectly dry. We did notice some leakage around the seam of the rear bulkhead, allowing wa- ter to enter from the cockpit. However, Delta Kayaks says this leak has been eliminated in newer versions by adding a tighter-fitting bulkhead and modifications to the gluing. Te Eighteen5 has a very comfortable cock-
pit with a sliding, fore–aft adjustable seat. Te cruising speed is decent for a boat of its length. Performance is nonetheless nimble; it’s got quite a bit of rocker and it’ll about-face on an aggressive tilt much faster than you can say “Delta has tested its plastic to withstand re- peated hammer blows.” All this capacity and performance comes in
a beautifully finished package with the high- gloss appearance of gel coat and standard fea- tures you won’t find on boats from other com- panies—recessed foam grab handles, divots in the deck to make it easy to grab the bungies, paddle float straps, and more. Which brings us to the second reason that
nobody has built boats like this before: be- cause it’s unknown if anybody will buy them. Te mass market wants plastic rec boats while expedition paddlers—relatively few in number from the start—have always gravitated to pric- ey composites like bikers to leather. However, with expedition capacity, great touring perfor- mance and good looks at an attractive price, the Eighteen5 may be one to break the mould.
BY DELTA KAYAKS
The Delta has a reinforcing piece of plastic underneath the deck, so you can jump on the deck or perform kayak-over- kayak rescues, and a plastic stiffener along the keel which doubles as a track for the sliding seat.
SPECS length ..................18 ft 6 in (5.6 m) width ...................23.5 in (59 cm) depth ..................12.25 in (31 cm) cockpit ................18 x 32.5 in (46 x 83 cm) weight .................57 lbs (25.9 kg) volume ................121.9 gal (461.4 l) dry storage ..........67.6 gal (256.2 l) MSRP ...................$2,750 Cdn
deltakayaks.com
MAIN PHOTO: DAVE AHARONIAN // INSET PHOTO: TIM SHUFF
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