Southwind Review Update.

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:34 am

G'day guys,

I have finally got round to putting my Southwind through a more rigorous test. She is even better than I had previously posted.

Earlier in the week, Robin and I launched from the open beach into small surf (only about 1 foot) but it was sufficient to work out is she had any bad vices.

Punching out through the breaking waves was no problem at all. The bow rose easily over each and every wave with no water coming on board. Robin took water into the cockpit of her very good sea kayak several times when punching through these waves.

Coming in, the Southwind very easily caught and took advantavge of the small swells. She displayed no tendancy to "pearl' at all and even was remarkably manouverable on the swells.

High brace and low brace were effective in steering the boat when surfing down the swell and a moderate high brace was all that was required to lift the stern to allow th boat to side slip in the breaking wave. After about an hour of playing in these small waves the only water in the cockpit was about a pint and a half.

I am 6 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds. I found that my knees tuck very neatly up under the side decks for bracing. With a permanently mounted seat and skirt, lay back rolls would be achievable in this boat.

For the purposes of these tests, I was using a single blade canoe paddle because that is what I like to use. Even with the canoe paddle, she easily caught and could old every swell I tried for. Southwind, in these conditions is a superior boat to my expedition sea kayak.

Robin took a small video of the boat surfing )13mb) but I am having trouble uploading to photobucket. Can anybody help me to re-size it?

Fishing. We also spend a couple of days fishing. The boat is superb for this.

I was only working salt skinny water, tossong lures about the place. At first, I thought she might be too long for this but i soon got used to the extra length. For the way I fish skinny water, a rudder would be an advantage in that it would allow me to control glide into shallow flats areas without the use of a paddle. Apart from that, she tracks beautifully as is and does not need a rudder.

I found that bu shifting the seat back about 10 inches completely illminated any tendency to weathercock. This test was done in 20 to 30 knots of wind. Weathercockong on all points was non-existant.

Wind signature. There is slightly more windsignature than my sea kayak but I was still easily able to keep pace with my wife in hers. i was using a single blade at the time.

Robin had a paddle in Southwind in a sheltered part of the creek. She described it as effortless to cruise in and beautiful to paddle. She was so impressed with it that she has put in an order for a scaled down verson of the SAME hull only 14 feet long. Matt and I will be speaking shortly about this.

In short, the Southwind is a fast, stable and dry ride. She has no bad habits and there is Nothing I would do to change the design. She has carrying capacity approaching that of a tripping canoe with hull performance similar to that of a very good expedition sea kayak. She is easily the best boat in my shed.

To give an idea just how impressed I am with this boat. A few years ago, I bought my expedition sea kayak with the long term goal of attempting the Bass straight crossing. I was building up for the attempt when health problems put paid to the idea.

This is an epic undertaking, about 300 miles of open Southern Ocean crossing between Australias mainland and Tasmania, Island hopping along the way through some of the roughest water this country has. Many come from all over the world for the attempt. Not so many complete it.

Age and health have cought up with me and I no longer aspire to this. However, if I were to make such an attempt, Southwind with a skirt would now be my boat of choice.

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:47 am

Oh yeah,

Some Piccies.

Robin testing it. "I want on only smaller"

tx river rat · Post by **tx river rat** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:35 am

Mick
Great report on sounds like an awsome boat and love your pics. I can see just one problem.

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Your going to need a bigger shed if Robin keeps ordering boats 10 for you and 10 for Robin

Ron

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:20 pm

Thanks Ron,

I finally managed to upload the vid. Quality is very poor but you will get the idea.

http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/h ... urfing.flv

stevesteve · Post by **stevesteve** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:25 pm

Hey Mick,
Looks like a great boat. The surf video looks like fun.

The photo with you tinkering with the fishfinder whith four rods out looks like you really mean business

lncc63 · Post by **lncc63** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:03 pm

You were right Matt ... now I want one of these!

Great boat Mick.

hairymick · Post by **hairymick** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:50 am

G'day Louis,

You were right Matt ... now I want one of these!

Mate, go for it!!

You will never regret it. These boats are brilliant.

Wimperdink · Post by **Wimperdink** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 6:40 pm

You sure know how to build for advertising Mick. Thats professional quality with what looks like professional grade fun.