kross57 wrote:
The Revo 11 is a great little yak. Right until you lift the rudder. Then it is the worst handling kayak I have ever used. It wants to turn left. You fight like hell to keep it straight, then it turns right. And on and on. This has nothing to do with proper paddling. I've had a whole bunch of paddle kayaks, and I know what good paddling is. It's the hull design - fine with the rudder. Awful without it. This becomes extremely apparent launching or landing through surf, when the rudder must be up. The kayak lands sideways, backwards, whatever. You have almost no control. Launching is a struggle too. Other than that, great kayak.
Sport and Outback are worse, trust me I've owned both of those and Revolution 11 and 13s. I broke my paddle trying to launch my 2011 Sport into 3ft waves because without rudder or fins I kept getting turned sideways and pushed back onto the sand. Launching into anything 2ft or more is still uncomfortable regardless of kayak, but I find the Revos do it better.
There was a post on here a while back where somebody glued surfboard-style mini-fins to their kayak to improve straight-line paddling performance when the rudder and mirage drive were not in use. I was tempted to try that.