Brittany 16.5 Flatwater Touring Kayak with Skeg and Rudder (Yellow/Orange, 16.5-Feet)

I’ve owned this kayak for two seasons and am looking forward to summer 2019 when I’ll be out as many weekends as possible on the many lakes in my area. The Brittany 16.5 is a glorious kayak to paddle! She slipps through the water with ease and really makes paddeling a joy. If you’re a beginner her primary stability is definitely twitchy and her secondary stability is subtle at best so she’ll take some getting used to. If your big (top heavy) and don’t posses a ton of balance she’ll flip over on you in a heartbeat. It took me, a 5’-11”, 250lb, complete noob, several ventures of 5 or more miles on the water to start getting comfortable in the Brittany but by the end of the first season I was right at home in her hull and there was no place I’d rather be! The kayak tracks great with skeg and rudder up but I tend to use the rudder most of the time anyway. Pebbles can jam the skeg making if stick but I don’t tend to use it much since I deploy the rudder often. The shape of this kayak (albeit is similar to many others in her class) is sleek and sexy and has instilled me with much pride. She also gets tons of compliments everywhere we go. This kayak is a serious touring kayak and not something you lay back on and float around leasurly attempting to get a tan. When you get in this kayak you go and when your ready to lay out and get a tan you beach her, pull your lunch and beach towel out of the hatches and kick back for a while and when your ready to move on or head home she’s eager to take you where ever you wish! The hatches will get a little wet inside so I keep my towel, wallet, sun screen, car keys, etc in a dry bag and that’s totally fine with me. I dont mind the low back seat on this kayak because it doesn’t interfere with my PFD. But I can see how some may want more back support so keep that in mind. All in all, I’m really happy with my purchase of the Riot Brittany 16.5 and would recommend it to anyone looking for this type of kayak. I’d go as far to say, I love this kayak!

Finally spring showed up and the ice melted off the lakes, been out in the kayak twice now. I like the 3 waterproof compartments. 2 items that kept it from getting 5 starts: 1- I am 5'7" and the cockpit is hard for me to get into but is a perfect fit once I am in, the thigh pads reduce the area in the cockpit entrance, will try removing them (they just unscrew) and see how that works; 2- Went out yesterday and it was windy, seems like the rudder is a bit too small, when trying to turn around back into the wind I really had to work getting the nose of the kayak back into the wind, the rudder was full over but didn't seem like it wanted to turn, rudder worked very well the day I took it out in no wind. Other than these minor issues it is a great boat for the price. I was able to maneuver the kayak around standing trees in the back water of the lake with no issue and no rudder, when I wanted to just go straight to get back to shore all I had to do was drop the skeg and straight I went, when I paddled up the Niobrara river I put down the rudder and I was able to make the sharp turns. The skeg is adjusted with a slide on the starboard side of the cockpit. The rudder peddles are easily adjusted with a strap on each peddle assembly and moving the rudder with the peddles is effortless. Paddling into the waves was pretty dry, the bow cuts through nicely. I liked the seat adjustment, you can easily raise the front of the seat to support your knees. Yeah the seat back is not much but I usually don't lay back when paddling, so to me it was not an issue and if I need more support I will just squeeze my life jacket behind it. I would definitely buy this kayak again if anything happens to this one.

First, let me say that I haven't even had the opportunity to put this kayak in the water yet... I just received it today. I want to make an initial review simply to voice my displeasure with some aspects of the boat to perhaps spare others the disappointment that I've experienced thus far. I'll make an update after using it on the water.Now to the shortcomings:This kayak has a lot of stated features, but a couple standout as being exceptionally poorly designed. Specifically, the seat back and thigh braces. The seatback adjustment mechanism is junk. Totally unusable. I know now that I'll be looking into replacing the entire seat. My Old Town Castine's seat blows this one away. Secondly, the thigh braces sound like a good idea, but they have almost no adjustment ability. Logic would dictate that since people come in all sizes and shapes, the thigh braces will need to be adjustable. I'm 5' 11" 170 lbs and they were useless - I uninstalled them and threw them in a box.In summary, my initial experience with this boat is rather negative. I will reserve final judgement until I get it out on the water.Update 04/07/14:I took this kayak out for a 5 hour trip yesterday on the Patuxent river and Chesapeake Bay. I have to say that I'm very impressed with it overall. The speed, tracking, balance and ability to handle relatively rough water were all very good. When I started out, the wind was kicking and I dropped the skeg. Tracking was excellent and nearly effortless. I didn't need the rudder and never deployed it. The boat is on the heavy side, but once you get it moving it's pretty easy to keep the forward momentum going. I bought a new paddle to go with this kayak, an Aqua Bound Manta Ray Carbon (230 length) and it seemed to work very well with the boat. In summary, I changed my review from 3 stars to 4; had the seat back been better designed and more useable, I would've perhaps given it a 5. I ended up finding an old inflatable back rest in my garage and used it - it provided the additional high support the original back rest lacks. Bottom line: I recommend this kayak for anyone wanting an all around solid performer that can be used in areas not suitable for composite boats (rocky shorelines, etc.).