The Nelo Viper 51 is my favorite winter training boat and ICF sprint Kayak. At 54 years of age I have gotten to the point where I just don't have much fun in the most modern tippy sprint kayaks. I am actually faster in the 500 with the Nelo Viper 51 which I find very relaxing stability wise. I can turn a 2:14 with this boat in the 500 which is a bit faster than what I can do with a much tippier Orion. While a 2:14 would be a lousy time for the Olympics it is fast enough for the over 50 class. How can such a stable ICF kayak be fast? I believe that part of the reason is the rotating seat. I can really put a lot of leg into my stroke and get a really good rotation. Without that stability I could not comfortably use a rotation seat. (The Viper is available with either a low fixed seat or a rotating seat.)
While I am on stability I should say that the Viper is very tippy when compared to a skinny sea kayak, but when compared to a open class surf ski or modern ICF kayak it is stable. I would say that the stability in flat water is very similar to a life guard spec ski. With a low fixed seat it feels a hair more stable than a SRS Lazer and with the rotating seat it is a hair tippier than the Lazer. It also has a very fine entry which make paddling it a lot of fun. The weight of these Vipers is 19 pounds to 29 pounds depending on the type of construction.
The Viper 51 is 17 feet long and almost 20 inches wide at the widest point. It is 18 and 1/4 inches wide at the 4 inch waterline which makes it legal in the USCA Touring class. I should point out on speed issues that I am only refering to the 500 meter sprint. The Viper is very fast at 100% effort but at 70% (like in distance events) my speed drops from 8.3mph to about 6.5 on my gps. There are faster distance boats. A good comparison would be with the Valhalla Victory. I am about 5 seconds faster in the 500 with the Viper but in a 10k I am about 2 minutes faster with the Victory.
Call me if you would like to demo one!
Stable enough for molly to play with her I Pod!
