Interested in PA12

Hey folks bin interested in the pa12 for sometime now.I currently have the nucanoe frontier 10 and what a blast I have with that thing lol. The reason for moving on to another kayak is paddling just kills me.For the most part I have been sticking around local waterways for the last 2yrs mainly the thames river in Ontario.Would like to explore diff types of bodies of water although the river has become my fav place to go.You can throw a motor on this, electric/gas/propane,just more crap to lug around lol, already did that with electric motor/battery ect,to much of a hassle for me.I figure with the pa12 you get the best of both worlds paddle/peddle,shallow water paddle,deeper water peddle ect.Every kayak has a plus and minus whats your view on the pa12 and I do have a trailex trailer which can take up to a 12ft kayak anything more no good.Sometimes when switching from one to another kayak your usually giving up one feature to gain another.In my case that would mean losing 360 degree swivel seat mobility and gain the peddle drive with the pa12,which I think I would be okay with lol.Any thoughts or input on this,anyone else make a switch losing something to gain something ect,Thanks appr any feedback,heres a pic of my f10.Prob be 2016 spring when and if I do it.

I cannot imagine that you will regret transitioning to a Hobie. I have no experience with the PA12, but if you are considering getting out on big water, you may consider the PA14 as well. Either way, I would not let the trailer dictate the kayak. There are plenty of trailer mods posted in this forum. Some of these begin with a Trailex frame to which PVC bunks are added, thus accommodating longer hulls. Good luck!

It's my understanding that the pro angler 12 are tippy b/c of the hull design,is this true. Swells in the 3 to 4ft range and other boat wakes they can't handle.I was thinking of taking it out on lake erie and large resiovor's ect but if there that suceptable to tipping maybe I should look into something else. My nucanoe f10 handles everything thrown at it maybe i'll just stick with my f10.But am interested in a peddle drive yak that can handle going from small rivers to larger bodies of water.My yak can handle all that,but does not have a peddle drive lol.What about native peddle drive any thoughts on those......thanks

Common misunderstanding about stability vs rolling with a wave. The PA 12 is far superior in stability, but because of that it has more of a tendency to stay flat to the waters surface... and if the water is rolling, the hull stays with it. A "tippy" boat allows you to counter this roll effect by tipping into the wave.

The PA12 is not prone to tipping over, but can give the user more motion to deal with than they are used to.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

It's just some youtube videos I have seen the pa12 flipping over from waves,i think b/c the pa12 sit higher on the water that makes them more susceptible to being flipped when hit from the side from a wave ect. My f10 takes waves on the side all the time but it just goes with the waves,can't always be facing the waves so I pretty much ignore the waves and keep fishing since I no my yak can handle it from the side since it sits lower in the water ect. I just need more input on the pa12 regarding this,dont seem to be getting many responses.Are you guys going to be at the boat/fishing show here in London Ontario, it would be nice to talk to a rep and take a look at the pa12 and go over the pro's and con's and get any addional info on how it handles diff bodies of water like back bays/rivers/resovour/lakes ect and the shallow draft ect.Hobie was here at the boat/fishing show a few yrs ago but I wasn't looking at that time.2016 model is what i'll be looking at,if I get a chance to.My nearest dealer would be Kitchener Ontario about an hour or so away from me.But they don't have nothing. Just a lot of questions and some insight and input regarding the pa12,but no one to talk to in person ect....if your at the boat show that would be great,if not i'll have to wait for the dealer to get some in,but talking to them wont be the greatest since there goal is to sell them.I T'S up in the air for now,but thanks.

I own a Frontier 12 and have been fishing out of my buddies PA14. They both are extremely stable, but have completely different feels. That has to do with many things, but the hull design and the seat height is much different. The Frontiers are a few inches wider but shorter by 2 feet. My guess is total surface area is very close between the two. I will tell you the Hobie tracks much better and is obviously faster and easier to propel. Strictly my opinion is the the Frontier is slightly more stable, but the Nucanoe guys will tell you their intent was to make the widest platform possible, knowing they were going to sacrifice many of the other desirable attributes that the Hobie offers.

So if the only thing you are concerned with is buying a kayak that is fractionally more stable then keep the Nucanoe. I made that same decision a couple of years ago, but now I'm getting ready to purchase a 2016 PA14 because I realized those other attributes are more important to me. I will also tell you the fit and finish of the Hobie is far and away better than the Frontier.


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I own a PA12, and I've tested a PA14. Not sure about Nucanoe/Native, but I suspect they are all extremely stable kayaks. However, there's a lot of subjectivity about what kayaks are the most stable, and I suspect you won't find an answer on the internet.

I'd say your best bet is to demo them.

Huntrava is correct...


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Yes I agree,thanks for the input.I'm actually thinking the outback would be better for me. Going from small skinny water to big I think the outback can cover all that and in really shallow water I can still paddle as a normal kayak. I can't imagine paddling a pro angler to much. Thanks again,what I thought would be an easy decision has turned into a nightmare on decicions.Just don't want to end up with something i'll regret.and as far as demo goes I can look into that.My f10 is 38'' wide and I believe the outback is 33'' wide so 5 inch diff,not much diff there so it would prob be okay.But I will further my research.

I think you may have been seeing the video where the guy flipped from using the higher seat position in surf or following seas.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

...where basically any small craft could get flipped. User error in my opinion.

Yes your right,i looked at the video again.IT seems to me that he got caught off guard when this unexpected storm rolled in which didn't give him much time to make adjustments to deal with the swells ect. I will be deciding between the hobie mirage outback or the pa12.The best thing I can do is to demo both of them to see what one would suit me best for the places I fish which includes shallow water and the pa12 looks like something you don't want to be doing much paddling in lol. Come spring time i'll find out. I plan on paddling both of them not just peddling,see how they handle just with a paddle.

Outback is the #1 best seller for a lot of reasons.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)