SOT Kayaks

Author
Discussion

JABB

Original Poster:

3,583 posts

237 months

Thursday 25th April 2019
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Looking at getting a sit on top kayak for river use mainly. Have been offered a RTM Mojito.
Has anyone got any opinions on these, or indeed, anything else?

GIYess

1,324 posts

102 months

Friday 26th April 2019
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Mate has a bic 2/3 person sit on top. We have had great fun on this over the years. It tends to be quite hard to stear in the wind and wouldnt be comfortable for long distances but certainly quite a capable kayak. I do like sit on tops as when you tip, you just fall off as opposed to being stuck underneath but sit ins are more capable and easier to paddle over distance or in rough seas. What are you intending to do with it?

The one you mentioned looks good but no experience with it.

RobM77

35,349 posts

235 months

Monday 29th April 2019
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My ex and I had SOTs and had a lot of good trips in them. After hiring a few my main criteria were weight (to lift on and off the car) and width. Regarding weight, some of the larger ones can get really heavy; ours were light at 18kg each, but double that is not uncommon. Regarding width, manufacturers try to make them as stable as possible for all the family to use, which means wide, but this reduces performance noticeably and you have to paddle over that width, which can become tiresome over longer distances (many SOTs are just made for fun at the beach). I've paddled really narrow SOTs and stability was never really an issue, so I'd recommend going for as narrow as possible.

In terms of performance, yes they're slower than sit-ins, but in my narrow light SOT I overtook plenty of people in sit-ins, so the differences aren't vast if you get the right SOT.

I now SUP, which I find a better work out and it does my bad back the world of good. Again, most manufacturers make them wide and heavy, but I'd recommend avoiding that where possible.

chappj

312 posts

144 months

Thursday 2nd May 2019
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We bought two Tootega SOT kayaks last year and are really pleased with them. One is the super lightweight version which allows my wife / daughters to carry it. Both are light enough to put in a roof rack.

Ours are used for coastal playing. Haven’t used on rivers but plan to do so this summer.