Inflatable Canoes and Kayaks – Serious Stuff or Just a Bit of Fun?

Those of you who kayak or canoe regularly will be well aware of the difficulties of transporting your boat around if you don’t have a van, trailer or proper fixtures for attaching it to your car. The smaller boats are not so much of a problem, but when it comes to the bigger boys, you’re better off paddling to your desired location rather that trying to attach the damn thing to your vehicle.

Well this may well be about to change with the introduction of some ‘proper’ inflatable canoes and kayaks to the market. We say ‘proper’ as previous attempts at inflatable boats conjures up images of bailing out water from something that seems to be made of balloon material, patched up by puncture repair kit patches. Not these new dogs however, these have been functionally designed with reinforced panels and with actual usability in mind. We got the chance to take a Sea Eagle 330 out on the water and I have to say it was great fun. The moveable seats allow you to paddle solo or with a companion and the quality was a vast improvement to its inflatable predecessors. The material is strong (”tough enough to withstand dog paws” they claim) and bonded together using high frequency welds to form one solid structure.

The boats also seem to have other important additions such as skegs, inflatable spray skirts and self-bailing drain valves. All of which are needed if your going to be adventuring any further than your local pond. The best bit though is that they rarely way much more than 30lbs and can be taken almost anywhere.

Our verdict is that they are a very versatile addition and great for getting into the sport, but sadly have no change of competing with the solid hull boats which will out-perform again and again. We doubt inflatables will ever be a serious option for competition sports but we’ve been surprised before so we never say never.

Look out for second hand inflatable kayaks on our listings section