Kaskazi Dorado test drive

I had a chance to test drive the Dorado yesterday.  Let me tell you, I really like a hard shell kayak.  One thing that become very apparent is that this boat does NOT flex like a roto-molded "plastic" kayak.  That gives it a really nice feel that I really like.  A few notes on the cockpit area.  Apparently the seat area come in 3 sizes.  The boat I tested was the standard size.  It fit my butt nicely.  I have a 35" waste.  Since the dodo doesn't have scupper holes, a good seat fit is nice because if you fill it with your butt, there is no room for water in your seat.  The snug fit also gives you a little extra hip control.  The leg area was a bit cramped on my calves though.  I could see it becoming a bit uncomfortable for me if I were to paddle it for extended periods, so if you have larger calves, beware.

The seat area is deep, which lowers your center of gravity.  This really helped the stability for a boat on the narrower side.  Speaking of stability, I didn't notice any differnces in primary and secondary stability.  It was just really stable across the range.  In other words, the stability was constant as I leaned over.  I never felt tippy.  There are a couple of cutout at your side along the rail.  When I leaned I did take water in through these cutouts.  I guess these were designed for just the opposite, meaning if you do take water into the cockput, it helps drain it out.  Not sure if I like these as like I said it also allowed water into the cockput.

The deep cockput meant there was natural back support althoug on the low side.  To me it felt a bit unfomfortable as I'm used to a higher back.  Others thought it was just right.  I guess you could fit a seat in it but it was designed to not need it.

This boat is fast, probably the fastest SOT I've tested.  The rigid hull helps this.  It really felt like a racecar.  Very responsive and it got going with just a couple of storkes.

Storage.  The center console opened up in this boat and it leads to the front  storage area.  I guess you can get them with the front able to hinge open, but this boat had a sealed front with only the center console being able to open.  One thing missing was storage room for rods underneath.  There is just no place to slide these under the deck.   The back tankwell is shallow.  I could see stuff sliding out easily so you need to be aware of that and leash things in.  I'm  not sure I'd put fish back there, but you could slide them to the area in the front throught he centerl console.  There's A LOT of room there to store tackle and fish.  Or you could add  a crate to the back area.

Bottom line ... this is a nice, fast, stable  boat.  But it could use some better thought out storage.  Did I say I really like the rigid hull? !!!

-Allen