Day 68 - Ocean Kayak 'Yak Board'

Honestly I was not looking forward to paddling this boat, but this morning I was pleasantly surprised. I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but with this boat I'm afraid I had. It doesn't look like much, kinda dumpy actually, on flat water it's a slow and wet ride for most folks. But flat water is not what this boat is really designed for.

Today I went up to La Jolla with the Dagger Axiom for my friend Greg to try out, and much to the annoyance of all the board surfers, I brought along the Ocean Kayak Yak Board to shred things up. My experience with the Yak Board up to this morning was the poky wet ride it gives on flat water. Because of that I didn't expect much when I launched into the nice little surf we had at 'The Shores' this morning. I came equipped with thigh straps so I could stay connected to the board and hopefully give the boat a fair shake. It wasn't until I caught my first wave and found myself doing bottom turns, top turns, and a nice (wave holding) diagonal run that I realized that this little boat CAN surf. Before the morning session was through I had managed to pull off nice cutbacks, a few easy rolls, and got air off the back of a couple waves while paddling out. I must say that I was pleased with the Yak Board's performance.

The one complaint I have, and it's a major one, is that the seat well on that kayak is lousy. It seems like the designers made it as low as possible (to lower the center of gravity to keep it stable I suppose) and in so doing your but ends up at, or below, the level of your feet. This hardly encourages the upright posture that is absolutely necessary for balance and torso rotation which are two of the fundamentals of dynamic surfing and kayaking in general. While seated in the seat I found that I needed to do a huge and continuous stomach crunch to stay in anything that resembled a proper paddling posture. This strain quickly tightened up my legs and became unbearable. My solution was to put my feet in a foot well that was one size too short for me then extend my legs forcing my rear against the back of the seat well. This allowed me to hover my butt an inch and a half above the seat at a level where it belonged, thus allowing me to paddle like god intended. I think if I was to paddle this boat more often the simple solution would be to shape a piece of foam to raise the seat up to where it belongs, then this little boat would be up to snuff.

If folks are OK with the seat or don't mind rigging it to work like it should, I think the Yak Board is a fun little surf boat. In some ways it allowed for more dynamic surfing than many of the other SOT surf boats I've been on.

Congratulations to Greg by the way for his first short boat experience outside of a swimming pool. He managed an hour in the surf catching several waves without getting dumped once.

Yak Board Review

Manufacturer = Johnson Outdoors
Brand = Ocean Kayak
Model = Yak Board
Type = Sit On Top
Material = Plastic
Length = 8'-0"
Width = 30"
Weight = 40 lbs.
Capacity = 225-240 lbs.

Location = La Jolla Shores
Time = 7:00 AM
Distance = N/A
Duration = 1:10
Avg. Speed = N/A
Conditions = Calm and mostly cloudy smooth 2'+ swell