Reviews for Looksha 14 Kayak by Necky Kayaks

I bought the Looksha to gain some leg and foot room. I am 6' 3.5" tall, 175 lbs and wear a size 12 shoe. I picked up enough leg and foot room to be comfortable. I do have to have the footpegs in the all-the-way-forward position. However, if you are taller than me and have a larger shoe size, you may need to go to a longer boat. The forward hatch bulkhead limits the leg and foot room.

I guess I will start with the BAD, as that is what most people read reviews for before they buy a boat, the potential downers.

• The thigh braces are foam, and held in with a rather ignorant system, its a Phillips screw that runs through the hull into a smooth round tab about the size of a quarter neither end is fixed, so you have to be able to put tension on the smooth, hard to grab end in order take the screws loose to adjust the pads. In my case 2 of the 4 screws had foam/debris in them and because there is absolutely no way to grab the other end with any force, they couldn't be unscrewed, both ends would just spin. I had to drill the screws out to replace them.
• The crimp fasteners that hold hold the loops in the rudder cable both pulled loose 10 minutes into the first trip. Had to be replaced.
• The seat has side to side give, so under hard paddling it can wobble back and forth as You paddle.
• The hatches have to be absolutely the biggest pain in the ass of any kayak hatches ever. the top cover is just a hard plate, and in and of itself offers no waterproofing whatsoever. Underneath it is a neoprene gasket, which, while being absolutely and totally waterproof, is also very very VERY hard to put back on, especially the front one. I dread having to open either hatch. The first time I took them off it took me around 15 minutes to get them back on, perhaps over time my technique will improve and it will become easier, but as of now its by far the thing I like the least about the boat.
• Because of the cockpit shape, the boat will not fully drain if you flip it over.. rock it, seesaw it.. do whatever ya want, no matter what you will have to sponge out the last quart or so of water.

  Ok, so grumpy pissy BAD side over, now for the GOOD.

• Boat looks sexy, very neat looking low profile cockpit.
• First touring boat I can actually sideshift into.. I.E. drop my butt in from the side and then swing my legs into, I love this about the boat, no more bracing with my paddle and all that crap, you can just drop in.
• While it is stable enough to get into easy, you can still edge the boat enough for proper keel break maneuvers, I don't know how they pulled that off because it really is a best of both worlds situation. bracing while using the rudder and edging will snap turn the boat VERY quickly.
• Coming from a 16.5' touring boat I was quite pleased with the speed and glide, and that was my biggest concern. I was ready for a compromise, and granted it does not have the same hull speed as a full on 16+ foot sea kayak, it is still very fast.
• the optional rudder has the sliding rudder pedals, which is fine for some, but many prefer the pivot style rudder controls, thankfully Sea-Lect does make replacement controls that bolt right in using the existing holes, and they are only $50 So you can have it either way if You want.
• The seat is very very comfortable and does have a cup holder, the adjustments are nice and easy to get at and use.
• the grab handles are bungy sprung so they stay sucked up against the boat, having grab handles slap and bang on the boat annoys me, so I like the Looksha handles.

I rented the of these and paddled Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, CA with it. My goal for the day was to paddle calm water and maybe play in the swell outside of the harbor mouth. This boat was a good rental.

I did not like the rudder kit on the boat. I have quickly grown to like the gas pedal approach of my Tourya, so sliding the pegs front & back to steer was clumsy for me. It was too touchy for my novice level and I constantly over-steered. Since the day was calm I kept the rudder up most of the time.

The seat design is OK. The pan feels OK, but not as well formed as the P&H Easky or the Prijon. The back rest stood out as stable, well fiting, and easily adjustable.

The stability of the Looksha is what stood out to me - initial and secondary. Leaning enough to break the keel free to turn tight was not easy for a novice like me.

I did play in the swells outside of the harbor mouth, but got spooked when caught between a swell and a reflected wake that hit at a 45 deg angle. The boat and I rode right through it, but the chaotic after currents unsettled me, making the boat feel out of control, so I headed to the safety of the harbor to test my speed.

The boat gets up to speed quickly, but I felt like I could be going faster. She glided well, tracking straight, but slowing sooner than expected.

I love the look of this boat and I like the outfitting. I did not capsize on this trip, so wrestling items out of the rigging was not needed. Casual grabbing of my drink bottle from under the front deck webbing was simple.

It has proven to be exceptionally stable, maneuverable, fast and fun. I load it on top of my Ford Explorer all by myself and have had no problem with it at all. I live in Florida and have paddled the Gulf waters, Weeki Wachee River, Silver River, Crystal River, Homosassa River, Rainbow River, Hillsboro River and the Peace River. Went on two camping paddling trips and my only regret is I didn't do this many years ago. I get nice comments on my Cloud blue kayak everywhere I take it.

I found the seat back a bit high - though very comfortable. Might agree with the prior review that the seat back gets in the way during rescue. Though I am perhaps advanced novice or beginning intermediate in skillset, escape was easy, and with the large cockpit rentry as well. Have not worked with the spray deck other than escape .. no issue, but with the seatback (not necessarily a Looksha review, but seat review) it's difficult to reconnect the deck to the boat.

The boat tracks very well. The lower back deck makes the wind affect it very little, at least in moderate winds. Longest paddle thus far was a trek down the sound side of navarre beach, in light winds, maybe 1 1/2 with a rare 2 foot wave ... no issues whatsoever... tracks well, slight adjustment to strokes to maintain track (I don't have a rudder on mine).

Very stable - didn't try to edge much for turning as I didn't use the spray deck, but I would agree with previous reviewer that it would take a bit of lean to create the edge turning, given the stability of the boat.

I would suggest getting the back band rather than the seat back. In doing rescues, the seat back was always in the way and got tangled. The back band was much easier.

The boat tracks almost too well. It does respond to an edge to turn, but you need to put it up quite a bit. The lower back deck makes the wind affect it very little, at least in moderate winds. I'm ordering three of them for a teaching fleet, sans rudder. Each will have the 'outfitter' seat back.