I first saw these Deltas at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium. What drew me to try one out was the radical design of this new line of kayaks. Most new manufacturers make the same boat with the same hull as all the others on the market. Delta has far outdone the competition with their boats.
I'm a big person at 6'1" and 250# and I like to go camping. Delta made the hatch sizes and access holes actually usable. Most others have a small round hatch and unless your putting your items in a tube sock, forget it. I carry stuff like chairs, full size tent, camp stove, and the Delta hatches and volume allows me to carry it all.
As far as performance, while it's not as fast as a sleek sea kayak of similar length, it's incredibly stable with very good secondary stability. I rarely use the rudder, and windcocking is not an issue when loaded. It does have more freeboard than Eddyline or Hurricane, but it also will hold a lot more too.
The finish is far superior than Eddyline boats, and I notice the plastic Delta uses is thicker and stronger than Hurricane. Delta also has twice the volume, bungees, decklines than the other thermoformed manufacturers and also include the self recovery system and rudder as standard.
I would recommend this boat to ANYONE, novice or experienced. I definitely give this boat a 10 out of 10.
Well I have had my Delta going on three years now. I have paddled a few others but not put any length of time in them but for my purposes the Delta is the best. Being 5'11" and 210, entrance and exit is very nice and I still have no problem edging to practice paddling skills.
I have had the boat to the Outer Banks in NC, Algonquin Park in Ontario with a few portages and enough gear for 5 days. Lake Ontario is not the ocean but we get some good waves to play. Even when we try to see who can get their cockpit full of water by plowing the waves (paddle fast and let the nose drop in to the second wave), the boat is very stable.
Speed is very good for a wider boat and I have no problem keeping up with narrower fiberglass boats. One trip of 15 kilometers took me 1 hrs and 45 minutes. That is with a steady but not hard stroke, mild breeze and nothing high for waves.
After three years the finish, seat, rudder and peddles are like new even though I try to paddle once a week through the spring, summer and fall with our annual New Year’s Day paddle on the lake a have to even. We try to have a few large trips of 3 or more days with gear as well and I still love this boat.
Got my wife in to a Delta and 4 other friend have purchased Delta's after paddling my boat. Each boat to its purpose and this one works great for me.
Bought my Delta Kayaks 15.5 about 2 months ago and haven’t had a chance to try in lot of different conditions. I’ve had it in large reservoirs and small lakes and in mild wind and waves other than big power boat waves.
My first impression is as follows; it’s the most stable kayak I’ve ever paddled, it gives the impression that you couldn’t tip it over. It handles waves great, or at least the ones I’ve been in so far. Going over large power boat wakes is a cake walk, straight on or even at almost a parallel angle. I’m a large man at 5’11” and around 250 pounds and it’s one of if not the most comfortable kayak I’ve ever sat in.
As far as speed, it’s hard to tell, I don’t have a GPS so I don’t have much to judge the speed by, it does seem to accelerate pretty quick though. The fit and finish is very good and the rudder system is really nice. I really like the rudder peddles, kind of like a gas paddle in a car. The kayak turns well with just a little lean and it tracks well also. If you stop paddling it only well glide for a short distant before it wants to turn left or right, and with the rudder down it glides straight. All and all I really am happy with my Delta. I’d like to try in the ocean soon and see how it does there, I really have no doubt that it well perform fine.
This is only the second kayak I’ve owned, but I’ve paddled many different kayaks (friends and at kayak demos) and so far this is my favorite.