![]() This kayak is the winning result of that research. I never really thought I would own a kayak, but after a couple short runs in an inexpensive inflatable I decided to do way too much research and purchase a high quality kayak for myself. Overall, I'd surely recommend this one to anyone who's looking for a solidly built, tough kayak that can handle a range of water, and is quite responsive. I have needed to add silicone sealant to waterproof the bulkhead foam. It's easy enough to adjust to conditions so that you don't need the skeg. It slows down the kayak considerably, but has been helpful in high cross winds. The kayak isn't that fast: an all-out sprint will get you to 5.0 mph, and a hard race speed will put you about 4.5 or 4.6, whereas a hard sustained paddle will be about 4.3 mph (in comparison, a 14 ft Necky Manitou would deliver a sustained hard paddle of 5.2 mph for me). I do recommend a skirt when paddling in cold weather and/or high wind/waves as you'll take on quit a lot of water as the waves break into the cockpit. It tracks very well, is very stable in rough water and high waves. I've been really pleased with the Aspire. I got the kayak as a way to get a workout and possibly do Class II or III at some point. I'm 52, 6'0", 170# and a pretty hard-core athlete. I've been paddling hard 4 times a week since then, taking off a few months for winter in Western Massachusetts. I bought a used Aspire 105 in Summer 2019.
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