With so much going on with new models and different designs entering the market in the past few years, I felt the urge to write something about my personal experience with polyethylene boats and their use for surfing and playing. I remember the days when a PE boat was considered less “true sea kayak” than a composite model. These days are long, long gone!
My first steps into sea kayaking were with a DAG Midway (still our official radio callsign: Midway 1), which was a single-layer, sit-on-top sea kayak. Just five years later, I chased my dream of having a P&H Sea Kayak, and the Scorpio was exactly what I was looking for!
After paddling thousands of kilometres in the Scorpio, even my first North Sea crossing, I was on the lookout for something shorter and more playful, as I really love surfing. Sylvie also wanted to switch to a closed-cockpit kayak, so we shared a Delphin (one of the early models).
After a few years, when CoreLite X entered the market, we upgraded. Anyone who knows the North Sea knows that surfing here is considered, well, demanding to say the least. The Delphin in CoreLite X was my favourite boat when it came down to taming the powerful, irregular North Sea waves with their way-too-short, 3-4 second intervals.
We were using the Delphin 150, the smaller of the two sizes, and although we loved its neat characteristics and handling, we missed a day hatch to stow our safety equipment and found it front-heavy. The day hatch was not possible for P&H to add due to a lack of space (shorter aft deck), and the high bow was needed to prevent purling. So, we adapted!
… then P&H launched the Leo! The Leo feels like the underdog of the range, so it attracted our attention. Where a lot of paddlers moved from the Delphin to the recently launched Virgo, I wanted to try the Leo out.
To be brief, the Leo MV replaced my trusty Delphin 150. Why? Well, I did not expect the Leo to have almost the same amount of rocker as the Delphin, so when I tried it out for the first time in the surf, I was pleasantly surprised.
The Leo doesn’t have the distinctive bow of the Delphin, but purling stayed to a minimum. It’s also a little more forgiving, as the hull is a bit more rounded when putting it on edge, and there’s no extra weight in the bow!
At the same time, my problem of not having a day hatch was immediately solved. The Leo is sold as a multi-day tourer, and it is… but we aim to surf, play, and coach, and this is where we discovered a hidden side of this underdog.
To us, the Leo is more than just a touring boat. By now, it is my boat of choice when I coach or train on rescue scenarios with the Coast Guard and professional shipping (check our videos on YouTube).
The Leo is a tad slower than the Scorpio, but it is slightly faster than the Delphin. It can take a beating, one of the main advantages of PE, and by now, people know that CoreLite X closes the gap between composite and PE even more; the 3-layered plastic makes it lighter, more abrasion-resistant, and noticeably stiffer!
So, I absolutely love my composite P&H Sea Kayaks, but I would never abandon PE. If storage and budget allow, we advise having 2 boats: a PE and a composite! Best of both worlds? Or is it just the smell of a new boat speaking?