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Smartkat


Emmessee

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  • 5 years later...

Sails great though and the assembly in reality is around 30 minutes for 1 person with a battery powered high pressure pump (I use the BST 12 KITE). Without that add another 30 minutes. Pumping to 0.35 Bar with a hand pump is a great workout though especially in the bright hot sun so bring extra water. The rest goes together fairly well but stepping the mast by yourself in bf4 or higher is a challenge. The forestay is a real pain to get installed and tightened up and the centerboard cables must be checked thoroughly as that is the most critical part of the assembly. But, it is a seriously nice boat to sail. It has a furling jib and a trapeze kit as well so you can definitely do some high performance maneuvers. I have had 4 people on board without problems as well. It is not cheap but IMHO worth it. I put it in using swimming beaches and can lug the 2 bags right to the assembly point. There is also a small 2 wheel trailer if you must assemble it far from the launch point but at 42 kg it is easy to move around. I have assembled the pontoons and trampoline at my car and just carried that on my back to the water and put up the mast and sails there. It is a bit of a pain to assemble but I sail 2-3 times a week and now it is a challenge for me to see how fast I can do it. I did invest in a paddle as it is a real bear sometimes to get it out of port especially when it is too shallow to drop the centerboard and rudder. That is a very comical thing to watch (I provide a lot of entertainment at the dock I normally use) in high winds. Maybe I should invest in an electric motor but I really don't want to add another thing to have to keep track of. I do use a GPS and I have sailed at 20 knots in bf 4 winds. When it lets loose and gets up on one pontoon it really accelerates fast. It is way cool to crash this through 1 meter waves when close hauled or when running downwind surfing the waves. I love it and don't regret buying it at all. Highly recommended.

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