Boreal Sea Kayaks

[Richard L. Stanley]

I am curious if any one has experience with this company. I test
paddled a 17' 'glass model, and absolutely loved it. They don't have
dealers here in MD, so you don't see many (any) around. Love to hear
any comments. Thanks in advance.

Richard Stanley

[Richard Culpeper, M.A.]

Boreal Saguenay Review
by Richard Culpeper, M.A.

The Boreal Saguenay is a masterfully designed and crafted rough weather
expedition boat. The computer assisted design is fluid, and the
construction is exceptionally robust, with few boats on the market put
together so well.

The deep cutter bow, common to many pre-20th century West Greenland
kayaks, helps it run into heavy seas, although this is at the expense of
speed over calm water. The hull is V shaped forward, but shallow arch
under the full length of the cockpit, so while the Saguenay does not
have too much primary stability, the secondary stability is excellent.
Without use of a paddle, it can be heeled over to the deck and held
indefinitely. The stern, typical of most modern sea kayaks, is
truncated.

The boat tracks well. Turning is aided through the use of a dependable
Feathercraft foot-peg rudder, which provides better cockpit storage
access than a floorboard-stick rudder would, but unfortunately limits
leg extension and torso rotation in the stroke. The padded thigh braces
are long, so the boat will fit a variety body shapes. The seat is deep
set, which helps prevent hamstring cramping over long days, but inhibits
stroke leverage gained through higher seats. The single unit seat pad
and backrest is both comfortable and durable, and includes a handy map
pocket. The overall feeling in the cockpit is one of solid connection
with the boat.

The cockpit accepts LC-1 size skirts, and both nylon and neoprene skirts
are available. For hard- to-fit paddlers, Boreal will custom cut their
nylon skirts. Unfortunately, the skirts do not have an implosion spar.
Hatches are neoprene cover/hard shell/cinch strap, which is a tried and
true design, but is being supplanted by some sea kayak manufacturers by
hard shell/gasket hatches.

The deck comes fully rigged, with the exception of a compass. The 4"
compass platform is directly over the bow bulkhead partition, which can
make for a challenging installation. The Aquameter Sailor II compass
carried by Boreal is inferior in both design and manufacture, for it
does not offer declination adjustment and its lubber line does not
necessarily line up with its alignment mark.

Boreal paddles are as well crafted as their boats. They offer both
standard and narrow blade width carbon-fibre paddles which are
exquisitely spooned and give very little cavitation. A chopped
shaft/narrow blade paddle offers a high rev/low torque solution to
managing such a large boat.

The staff at Boreal paddle what they sell, so you are assured that they
are both knowledgable about their designs and receptive to your
comments.

If you are after an extremely well designed and constructed heavy
weather expedition sea kayak, you should consider the Boreal Saguenay.
Contact: Boreal Design, 108 Amsterdam, C.P. 37, St- Augustin, Quebec,
Canada, G3A 1V9, 418-878-3099. In Ontario Boreal is retailed through
the Swift Canoe Company, R.R. #1, Oxtongue Lake, Dwight, Ontario, P0A
1H0, 705-635-1167, http://www.swiftcanoe.com/ with distributors
throughout Canada and the USA.
--

Richard Culpeper
E-mail: cul...@lawlab.law.uwo.ca
Website: http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/4444

"Hour after hour, day after day, far from sight of shore,
We laughed and sang and slept under the hot sun on the northern ocean,
Wanting never to return."
-- Kimosippi '95 --