I am updating my review now of the Current Design Vision 140 with rudder (from 08-05-2012).
I previously had stated that because of the problem we experienced. The cleats which were supposed to hold the deck lines secure & in place were cracking in half & falling off so as a result the deck lines were flopping around loose. This happened when the kayak was brand new & had not even been exposed to sun or water yet. We drove it back to Toronto to the Complete Paddler & of course, they had it 3 wks & replaced all the deck lines & cleats. We got it home, used it once for only a little over an hour & a half, & while I was washing it off before storing it away again, didn't I see that it had happened again. So we drove it again back to Toronto. This time, The Complete Paddler gave us a $150 gift certificate to compensate us for the cost of our gas back & forth now from Ingersoll a total of 6x. And, I must say, Current Design didn't try to replace the cleats at all this time - they replaced the entire kayak with a brand new one. We gave it a good try & thankfully, they seem to have gotten to the bottom of their poor quality cleats so I am updating my review now of this product.
It's a nice looking kayak, very high quality job visually. It handles very nice. Rudder works great. It's a great asset to have in a cross wind but naturally, it's a good thing to know how to use different paddle strokes in case the rudder ever does break. The cleats & deck lines were all great. Initial stability is great!!!
I now would give this kayak a 10 out of 10. Thank you Current Design for producing a quality product & for standing behind your product. I would recommend this product. Two thumbs up now!!!
The kayak itself looks like a quality product. The deck cleats that are supposed to hold the deck lines & bungee cords however are crap. We ordered this Current Design Vision 140 (a kevlar hybrid with a rudder), last fall from The Complete Paddler in Toronto. We picked it up in the spring of this year. We stored it in our basement which is totally finished, until our first week of vacation July 9. We carried it upstairs intending to enjoy kayaking & I saw the deck lines all hanging loose. Then I saw why: 4 out of 13 of the plastic round deck cleats had cracked right in half & some had actually fallen completely off so there nothing to hold the lines in place. We had not even used the kayak yet. It still had the foam wrapped around the lines to the rudder. The Complete Paddler agreed to contact Current Design & replace the lines & cleats at no cost to us which they did but it still cost us a total of $64 in gas there & back which was out of pocket for us, not to mention a day out of our vacation driving there & back which we should have been able to spend kayaking, not returning it for repairs. They had it 3 wks. We finally got it back last week. We went kayaking locally for a little over an hr. maybe.
Kayak itself is stable * handles nice & appears to be a quality kayak, but when we got the kayak home & unloaded it & I was washing it off before storing it again, I noticed already one of the deck cleats has again cracked in half so NO, I will not give this kayak a good review because of their faulty cheaply designed deck cleats. What use are deck lines that you could loose your gear off or worse yet, if you tip over & have to do a self rescue, if your cleats snap off you could die from hypothermia.
I would not recommend buying one of these until they design better cleats for it.
My first paddling season I purchased a CD Kestrel. Never happy with the cockpit fit; I have a hip replacement. So I purchased a used Vision late fall so only had few paddles in the new yak before the water iced up.
This spring I took the new yak back out and LOVED IT. A vast improvement over what I was paddling. The narrower beam combined with less depth in the cockpit really made a difference for me. This yak handled well and the speed was outstanding. Even my husband could not keep up!!!
Today I had the opportunity to test paddle a Current Designs Vision 140 w/rudder in a cove on the lower Hudson River. First off let me just give you a brief background on myself. This my third season paddling I currently own a Necky Manitou 13 and an Old Town Cayuga 146 w/rudder, I'll classify my ability as a lower intermediate with most of the paddling in my home range consisting of smaller lakes, rivers, and protected coastal areas on Long Island Sound.
Some of my impressions from the 30 minute session were that the seat was very comfortable and the boat did seem to fit me well, you cannot adjust the foot peddles while in the yak as the adjustment releases are behind the moving foot peddles. After spending a few minutes getting the feel of the boat I wanted to see how well the boat accelerated up to a cruising speed. I thought this boat was no speed demon and on a par with my Old Town Cayuga which takes a little bit to get going so I was disappointed in that category.
As far as turning, this boat needed the rudder to make it turn which is OK with me as I'm a rudder person anyway. The rudder deployed and retracted flawlessly each time I engaged it much more than I can say about my Old Town Rudder. Both hatch covers were easy to remove and put back on. This yak is Made in China.
I might have bought this boat if it was faster than my Old Town Cayuga plus it was 15 lbs lighter at 40 lbs which makes for easy car topping loading. I guess I'll keep searching for the perfect yak for me!