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Whisky 16’s first review by Virginia Seakayak Center
We're excited to announce the new Nigel Foster designed Whisky 16 kayak is now available. We picked up our Point 65N shipment last week and immediately got out on the water for a test paddle this weekend. The kayak was paddled by Ed and Tom, the guys behind Virginia Sea Kayak Center, and another local paddler and instructor.

We immediately noticed the kayak has an extremely flat hull design, a hard chine along the waterline and plenty of rocker. This is not your typical Point 65N kayak and it's clear Nigel Foster's design includes open water paddling ability. The Whisky 16 features an integral wire skeg and plenty of well-thought-out design features, like a "knee tube hatch" forward of the cockpit area for additional storage.

The bow and stern are more up-swept than other Point designs and there's clearly consideration for how the kayak will behave in rougher conditions.

Of course the true test of a kayak is getting it on the water, so that's what we did, rotating between all three paddlers, in flat water protected conditions, flat water with light winds and open water with wind and waves. It's fair to say we were all quite impressed with the Whisky 16.




The kayak is extremely agile, and turns on a dime. A single forward or reverse sweep stroke will pivot the kayak through nearly 180 degrees on the flat hull. Under way the kayak responded quickly to edge turns and the hard chine provides solid feedback, without limiting the edging. Deep sculling for support was made easier by the freeboard, which let the boat stay at 90-degrees under extreme leaning.

Bow and stern rudders worked well under edging, and amazingly well with the kayak kept flat. This will be a very nice teaching platform for instructors, and learning environment for students. We did find the skeg helped with tracking in breezy conditions, and it's easy to deploy just a little bit to compensate for the rocker and flat bottom.

In rougher water the Whisky performs well and is a stable platform, even in lumpy conditions. We were a bit concerned that the flat hull would cause the boat to feel a bit jumpy or skittish in the waves, but it felt very solid, with just a slight "bump" as it met the waves in beam seas. The volume in the bow helps the boat ride up over the chop, and does have a bit of a "slap" as it comes down into the waves, rather than slicing into the next crest. However, that same volume kept the bow from dipping too far when running down wind with the waves, so it's a fair trade.

Overall, we are very pleased with the Whisky and feel it's going to be a very popular boat here in the States. We're already lining up demo paddles and are happy to get you out on the water if you're considering a new kayak.

Got to Whisky 16 details »

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