Today I had the pleasure of meeting up
with Woody Callaway of Native Watercraft and Native Watercraft
Pro Staffer Marcus Villanueva to spend some time trying out the new
Native Watercraft Ultimate FX Propel prototype. The Ultimate FX
Propel was the second Native Watercraft that I have been able to participate
in the design process for as a Native Pro Staffer. The unique thing
about Native's design process is that the Native team in North
Carolina and the Native Pro Staffers are not the only people who get
to participate. Native actively engages the public via social media
and other outlets to give feedback and participate in the design
process. So in effect, everyone really has the opportunity to leave
their footprint on the next Native Watercraft kayak.
Layout
I had seen the Ultimate FX Propel in
videos from ICAST and Outdoor Retailer, but I didn't get a good grasp of the strengths this kayak provides
until I saw it up close. The Ultimate series of kayaks have been in
the Native fleet for a long time and they are more of a canoe/kayak
hybrid as opposed to a standard sit on top kayak. The first thing you notice when you see the FX Propel is
how roomy the cockpit is. There is a ton of room under the seat and
all along the deck. Behind the seat Native has removed the thwart
that has traditionally separated the cockpit from the rear tank well
and replaced it with an adjustable sliding thwart with built in dry
box. The dry box fits a couple of small tackle trays, but in my case I used
it to store my wallet, phone, and pliers. The lid on the
box bungees down to lock it tight and the box is also outfitted
with a drain plug should you need to drain it. The box is rigged with track and rod holders to make it more versatile. My
understanding is that the bow will come pre-rigged with a hatch cover
but under that cover is more deck space to store whatever you need.
Where I think this kayak shines is the storage underneath the
gunnels. When I got in the kayak there was a paddle stored under the
gunnels that was almost completely invisible, and I was able
to slide my hog trough on the side of the seat completely secure and
out of the way. The seat sits up pretty high, freeing up a ton of room underneath to store just about anything you
want. A small to medium size soft sided cooler should fit under the
seat nicely.
"Yea yea we get
it...the storage is great. How does it handle on the water?"
Stability
Typically the
first thing first thing I notice immediately after I sit down in a
kayak is stability. The Ultimate FX is a very stable kayak. I tend to think of stability in terms primary and
secondary stability where primary is the initial wobble you feel when
you lean in a kayak and the secondary being the point where the hull
catches and if you lean further you either fall out or the kayak tips.
I find that the Ultimate line of kayaks typically
has a bit less primary stability than a kayak like the Native Slayer
but has very good secondary stability. I found the that FX Propel
has more primary stability most likely due to the Propel drive acting
as a keel, and while I didn't compare the FX Propel to the standard FX
I imagine there are also some hull differences between the two that
may increase the stability of the FX Propel. The FX Propel has more of a tunnel hull design so when you stand in the it you are actually standing a bit below the water line, which results in lower center of gravity and improved stability.
Comfort
Native
has a history of making some of the most comfortable seats on the
market, and the Ultimate FX Propel is no exception. It utilizes the
same First Class Seat that you see in the standard FX and Slayer lines, but like the
Slayer Propel it does not have the high and low seating positions you see in their paddle only counterparts, but instead moves forwards and backwards to accommodate different
sized drivers. As with the Slayer Propel the seat sits up a bit
higher and everything seems to line up to make for comfortable
pedaling.
Steering
As
soon as I turned the rudder handle on the FX Propel I noticed that the
range of motion for the rudder seemed to be a lot larger than I am
accustomed to on Native kayaks, thus the kayak turns very tight. The rudder is a similar design to
that on the Slayer line of kayaks with slight variations to
accommodate the FX Propel hull style.
Speed
I
did not have a graph on the kayak for today's paddle so I don't know
exactly how fast I was going. I lined up with a Slayer Propel 13.5
and I would say that at similar rates of pedaling that the FX Propel
is a faster kayak which makes sense given the hull profile on the FX
Propel. The top end speed of the FX Propel seems very good but again
without having a speedometer on the kayak I can't say conclusively
that it is faster (but it certainly seemed like it).
Tracking
Given
that the FX is a 13-foot kayak, it tracked as expected. That is to
say that it tracked very well. I didn't notice any drift while
pedaling with the exception of a bit of wind catching in on the hull
now and again.
Weight
The canoe/kayak hybrid design of the hull lends itself to being lighter weight than your standard sit-on-top. As this is a prototype kayak the final weights aren't out yet, but you can expect the kayak to be lighter than your standard sit-on-top.
Rig-Ability
Is
that even a word? If it isn't it should be. Like most Native kayaks
the FX Propel is outfitted with a ton of track to rig any number of
accessories you may need. For testing, this kayak came pre-rigged with
some Railblaza rod holders and I was able to very quickly mount a
camera on a Railblaza boom and Starport HD to one of the FX Propel, tracks. The thwart
box makes things easier with it's included rod holders and storage, and there is plenty of room behind that for a
crate or cooler. The FX Propel comes with an anchor trolley on each side, although one thing I love about the Propel driven kayaks and the ability to go backwards is I almost never need to anchor, but you never know when you will and the anchor trolleys certainly help. The coolest surprise was the transducer mounting
location on the bottom of the kayak. This feature was still being finalized and should come with some additional mounting hardware but I liked the method of wire retention that I saw and it
should be large enough to hold most transducers. On that note there is a battery box molded into the front hatch area that will hold the 12 volt batteries that most kayak anglers are using for their fish finders. It may not hold some of the larger batteries that some of us are using now but given the plethora of storage options in the FX Propel there is really no shortage of places to store a battery.
Verdict
The
Ultimate FX Propel will be a great addition to the Native Propel
fleet. The roomy design and diverse storage options are going to make the
FX Propel a formidable kayak for most types of kayak fishing. The FX
Propel's speed and maneuverability will allow you to get to your
honey hole and fish for hours, and of course you always have that reverse to help you pull those giant fish out of the water.
