Performance
Hull Design & Tracking
The hull design is stable and well engineered. Compared to a jon boat, this boat has a much more efficient hull design that cuts through the water smoothly for a nice relaxing ride. This boat tracks very well (stays straight on course without weaving, veering or slipping and sliding to the left and right). In fact, it tracks much better than a jon boat or a flat bottom kayak. Fishermen who have been previously frustrated with how traditional kayaks (and kayaks with trolling motors) slip and slide around haphazardly, find this boat to be a total pleasure to fish in.
Speed
The Kayacht Touring 130 Electric Kayak moves quite briskly at about 3-4 mph. This electric boat goes about twice as fast as a jon boat with a trolling motor on full speed, so it moves out quite nicely and it can go significantly faster than the average paddler can paddle for any extended period of time. The leading brand pedal powered kayaks simply cannot keep up. For many people, 3-4 mph in a kayak seems much faster than it sounds because you are sitting so close to the water.
Comfort
The Kayacht Touring 130 is the only electric kayak of its kind. With thick padded seats and excellent width and leg room, we at Kayacht have yet to discover a similar watercraft of comparable comfort and quality. Also, while the padded seats are excellent, some people may wish to use this boat without the seats. The boat basically has nice molded-in chair areas and floor slats that can be used as foot supports or foot rests. You get a lower center of gravity without the padded seats and you can add your own cushions or beach towels if you wish.
Steering Control
This boat offers convenient lever style rack & pinion cable steering right at your fingertips without having to reach behind your back as with rear tiller steering type arrangements.
Motor
The powerful 30 LB thrust Minnkota motor offers 5 forward speeds and 3 reverse speeds. A 30 LB thrust motor is the maximum size motor that we recommend for virtually any lightweight kayak size / style boat. This is because larger motors typically only create a larger wake behind the boat but offer little, if any additional top end speed. With larger thrust motors, you end up burning up more battery capacity much quicker without any noticeable gain.
Trolling motors are "geared" (referring to the prop pitch) to go 3-5 MPH regardless of whether they are 30 LB thrust or 101 LB thrust. The difference is strictly in the pulling power and you only require a larger motor for a significantly heavier boat.
Shallow Water Performance
The motor tilts up for excellent shallow water performance and which creates a large fun wake behind the boat. See this demonstrated on our YouTube.com video.
Run Time
If you run at a mixture of speeds the Touring Boat can easily last all day on a single charge. For the nonstop user, the boat can run continuously for up to 5-6 hours on slow to low-medium speeds. Medium to medium high speeds can reduce the run time to about 3-4 hours and full speed all the time can reduce the run time to up to about 2.5 hours. But you can always carry a small spare battery to extend the run time.
Battery & Charger
The boat has its own covered compartment for the battery. It utilizes a standard Group 27 (car battery size) deep cycle marine battery available at most local big-box stores. You can also use a non-spillable AGM type battery which can be more costly. We recommend that you buy a spare battery for more run time and keep it on hand to switch out when you get back to shore. This way you will be able go out for more time on the water.
Virtually any inexpensive 12V automotive battery charger will work if you plan to charge the battery when it is out of the boat, well away from water and in a dry well ventilated place. Otherwise we recommend the Guest brand Charge Pro Model 2608A 6-AMP marine charger. A marine grade charger is essential if you are charging on board or anywhere near water.
Exercise
We consider this boat a great way to "workout" if you choose to use it in paddle mode. You can paddle out and power home when you become fatigued. Or you never have to paddle at all. Many people avoid paddle kayaks for fear of running out of steam and becoming unable to paddle back to shore.