Greetings! Decided to sell one of my two beloved sea kayaks.
BOTH are 17'4", 51 lbs (w/ nice compass), Carbon/Kevlar, with better P&H Large cockpits (both had afterthought cockpits the makers knew would get customized...and so it was with me. The P&H cockpit is superb, so I bought a couple and carefully retrofitted them in.)
Both have excellent primary and secondary stabilities, but the Impex is probably easier for an advanced beginner to handle in heavy seas. The rear end of the Vague is slippier (for maneuvering onto waves), so is better seen favoring a more advanced paddler. Both have good-excellent new hatch covers.
Although seemingly identical, their waterlines vary significantly...and therefore so do their characters.
I first got the venerable IMPEX FORCE 5 for all its great features, including a long waterline that favored straight-ahead great speed. (Indeed this 'yak won the famous long North Shore Blackburn Challenge Race with the old "Sid the Squid" at the helm.) It has a fine skeg, but rarely needs it except in strong winds to keep on track without asymmetric paddling. Thus it's VERY fast, but light enough to have good acceleration too.
I used it for years to try to keep up with King Leon and Lisa H. on our longer (14-16 mi) days off Gloucester. It's fun with a euro paddle, but a real locomotive with a good wing.
Lots of scratches. Faded red over white. Orig about $3800.
First $12750 takes it. It's faster, lighter, and tracks better than a Cetus or an old Explorer.
I'd call its cosmetic condition "good", and its seaworthiness superb, as Impex is a great Canadian boatmaker. It has a recent new skeg, as Sid broke it....
OR...
More recently I was looking to try to get a better "play-boat" for surf and nimble maneuvers, whilst not giving up the track-speed of the Force 5. After trying many hulls I decided that finding a best-of-both-worlds (long and short waterline performance) was impossible (although the P&H Cetus was quite a good jack-of-all-trades if you only wanted one hull). The Force is simply faster than any "play-boat".
So I found that the owner of Maelstrom, a tall gent from Montreal, designed a largish hull specifically to go surfing on the Maine coast. He had the venerable Canadian neighbor Borreal make them for him under his Maelstrom name. The bigger of these premium 'yaks was called the Vague (French for wind). It's remarkably identical in length, weight, and cockpit to the Force 5 above, but by having a shorter waterline it excels at play, and especially, maneuvering in the surf zone. It accelerates breathtakingly, but requires aa bit of skeg to stay on track for long distances in quartering winds. Thus its more fun in agile maneuvering than the Force. With its skeg fully deployed it WILL stay on track...but not as effortlessly as the Force 5. Orig MSRP was about $4k. Looks great in orange/white with black stripe. $1650 is a great deal. I'd call its cosmetics "very good", its seaworthiness as new.
I use both a Werner Cyprus and an Epic Midwing premium carbon paddles, but probably not quite willing to shed one yet. I have two great PFDs, inc a nearly new one, that I might resell. Same with radios, as I have an iCom and a something else I forget as a backup. Only need one going forward in my seniordom.
I also extra roof rack bits (J-hook and rollers) for loading.
Pics available upon request, but please chase them online.
Note that the Force 5 is the higher volume version of the Force 4, which is important as it will accommodate size 12 boots. (The Force 3 is a much shorter version favored by smaller paddlers.
Maelstrom also had a shorter version of the Vague (the Vitus?) for smaller folks.)
At 17'4" and only 51 lbs each (typical similar craft are 55-59lbs, or 60-65 lbs in FG!), these are carry-able solo, inc mounting onto roof racks.
So pick your hull! I'll gladly keep the remainder.
No shipping, of course. Pick up in West Medford, near the Upper Mystic Lake. I have a few extra straps to help secure onto a roof.
RSVP with any questions, although I've forgotten more about the sport than I remember!