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SOLD Necky Looksha IV

Picture

The following information was shamelessly lifted from Sea Kayaker Magazine's website in a brazen daylight heist. 

http://www.seakayakermag.com/1997/feb97/looksha4.htm

Review
Looksha IV by Necky Kayaks 

Reviewers:
TS 5' 10", 165-pound male. Day trips in winds less than
10  knots, small waves, boat and ship wakes for surfing.
RS 6' 2", 185-pound
  male. Day trip in winds to 35 knots, seas 2 feet, confused chop with 6- to
  8-foot ocean swell.
MH 5' 10", 190-pound male. 4-day trip, swell to 5 feet
  with clapotis and wind waves. Rock gardens and surge channels. 60 pounds of
  gear.

"The Looksha is one of the
  cleanest looking plastic boats on the market. Faux-granite plastic mixture
seems  to ease the 'Tupperware' look that many plastic boats suffer from" (TS).
Like  the Looksha II (SK August 96) it has a double chine.
The Looksha balances well for a solo carry. The 65-pound
  weight of the Looksha was not too difficult for our reviewers to manage. For a
  two-person carry the toggle placement is too far in from the ends for easy
  handling. The placement of the stern toggle is required by the rudder, but the
  inboard placement of the bow toggle also causes the bow to "bump into your leg
  while you carry it" (RS). RS and TS thought placement of the grip at the tip of
  the bow would be an improvement.
The
  Looksha's deck layout is "functional"(TS). Our reviewers especially liked the
  recessed deck fittings. The cockpit is "a nice size for easy entry and exit"
  (MH). RS would like a "snugger fit and a slightly lower deck" and both he and
TS  note the need for some custom padding.

The seat is comfortable and
long  enough to provide some good thigh support. The back rest was comfortable
but is  "quite high, sticking well above the cockpit, making laying back for a
screw  roll impossible" (RS). There is an option for a lower seat back. The
thigh  bracing was usable but did not offer a secure grip: "They could stick out
  farther and offer more purchase" (RS) or be padded out by the owner.

The
  webbing/ladder lock slider system for the rudder pedals "is infinitely
  adjustable and works reasonably well though it does require a little patience
to  get it perfectly trued" (TS). As with most rudder pedals the system has a
"fair  bit of give" (TS) when the rudder is retracted. The rudder seems "pretty
  indestructible" to TS, while RS thinks it could be a bit "beefier." When
  deployed it works smoothly and drops back down after riding over
  obstructions.
On the water the Looksha IV "has a very comfortable stability
  range. Without being a barge, the initial and secondary stability are good"
  (TS). "Stable enough to fish from, yet it felt nimble and very responsive"(MH).
  "Stable enough for most beginners but it turned like a dream when I got it up
on  edge" (RS).

Although the Looksha has a rudder, our reviewers
preferred  paddling with it retracted. "Putting this baby up on edge was my
favorite thing  about the Looksha. It cranks surprisingly quick turns for a
17-foot touring  kayak, pivoting like a shorty play boat" (RS). "It was a blast
in the rock  gardens. Super maneuverable and fun" (MH). The Looksha also tracked
well with  the rudder retracted. Its quick response to carved turns makes it
easy to hold a  course. Only MH noted the Looksha, without a gear load aboard,
had slight  tendency to weathercock in moderate winds, easily corrected by
edging the boat.  In the strong winds RS encountered "it handles as you might
suspect: like most  kayaks it was a struggle to keep on course in gusts of
30-plus  knots."

The Looksha has a
dry ride in  moderate conditions as its bow "has a moderate tendency to rise up
over small  chop. In bigger water the ride got much wetter" (RS). "It was dry
until I got  crazy in the rocks" (MH).

While not exceptionally fast the
Looksha "does  accelerate and hold its speed well"(TS). "I was able to sprint
and catch swells  easily" (MH). The Looksha handles well for surfing wind waves
and boat wakes.  "The boat's maneuverability made it easy to [ride] wind waves
without falling  off into a broach" (RS). "Course correction on shorter steeper
boat wakes was a  breeze with the rudder in action" (TS). "Bow tends to plunge
in large steeper  waves. Side surfs smoothly for controlled broaches"
(RS).
There is enough room for a week's
worth of gear in the  bulkheaded compartments. The hatches consist of an
unattached neoprene cover and  a tethered plastic lid. None of the reviewers
reported any leakage after rolling  or rough-water paddling. The bulkheads are
made of foam glued in place. With a  load aboard the Looksha IV had additional
stability and kept its "excellent"  (MH) handling qualities.

"A very
likable kayak. I would recommend it to  anyone who wanted the advantages of
cost, recyclability and impact resistance of  a plastic boat that doesn't
compromise on greater touring performance" (TS).  "Beginners should be satisfied
with its relative stability and solid cruising  characteristics. This is a
maneuverable and responsive kayak for skilled  paddlers to play around in on day
trips, and it'll haul plenty of gear. All  things considered, the Looksha is a
good all-around touring boat" (RS). "Often  when testing kayaks I find myself
wishing I were in something else. I didn't  want to get out of this thing. The
best plastic kayak I've ever paddled" (MH).

Designer
Response
First I would like to thank
the anonymous testers for what  I consider a very complimentary review. I would
like to respond to some of their  comments. Ideally we would like to fit a boat
perfectly to everybody, but that  is impossible, especially for ones designed
for high production. Our concern is  that some paddlers, especially new ones,
are afraid of being trapped in the  boat, hence the loose fit. To get tighter
fits it's relatively easy to glue a  layer of foam and shape it for the perfect
customized fit Looksha IV was  originally produced with a lower back rest, but
the majority of our customers  preferred a higher one. The refit is easy, just
ask your dealer. The placing of  the handles is due to my concern of picking up
some loose kelp or sea weed on  the bow and not being able to get rid of it.
After you use the Looksha a few  times you will find that the best way to carry
it is by holding it by the bow.  Your hand fits perfectly. When it comes to
using a rudder or not, there is no  doubt in my mind that it is more fun to play
in the boat without the rudder. But  what we are making is a touring boat, and
sometimes you have to be plugging  ahead in nasty conditions hour after hour and
using a rudder can make things  easier. Mike Neckar
Options and Pricing (1996 design)
Standard
Construction: Rotomolded, Super Linear
Polymer, Metthalocene catalyst  technology.
Standard
Features: Hatches, deck lines, bulkheads,
seat and back  rest.
Approximate
Weight: 65 pounds
Price:
Plastic:
$1320  with rudder, 1150 without
rudder.
Fiberglass: $2100.
  Kevlar: $2495 Kevlar. (MSRP in US dollars)
Availability:
Through a  network of dealers in Canada and
the US. Manufacturer's
Address:

Necky Kayaks
1100 Riverside
Road
Abbottsford, B.C., V2S 4N2 Canada.
Phone (604)  850-2206.
Phone:
(920) 732-3784


Reviewers:
SN 5' 8", 155-pound male. Day trip in calm conditions,
  overnighter in winds to 15 knots, waves to 3 feet; gear load of 45 pounds.

DA 6' 1", 175-pound male. Winds 5 to 15 knots, small chop. Paddled without
  cargo and with 90-pound load.
DM 6' 1", 180-pound male. Winds 15 to 20
  knots, chop to 3 feet, and clapotis.
The Hawk is a pleasure to look at:
  "Unbelievable looks...like fine furniture" (SN). "A beautifully constructed and
  finished boat. The quality of the workmanship is superb" (DM). The glass
  sheathed, cold-molded mahogany plywood kayak has nicely filleted joints on the
  inside seams. "The finish of the boat seems very hard, slippery. It easily slid
  over rocks when pulling it up on shore without scratching" (SN). The 46-pound
  kayak is easy to lift and balances well on the shoulder. The loops at the ends
  are not equipped with toggles, so tough on the hands for a tandem carry. It is
  more comfortable just to hold the ends of the boats.

The forward
bungies  are rigged through holes in the deck, so there are "no fittings at all
to catch  the paddle during the stroke" (DA). There are short lines at the ends
of the  deck that are useful for stowing a Greenland-style paddle, but don't
provide a  place to stow a conventional sectional spare paddle.
The cockpit
is "small  but quite comfortable" (DA). There is not much room in the cockpit
for stowing  gear, but the arched foredeck provides lots of foot room. The
unpadded,  contoured carbon-fiber seat is "completely" (DA) comfortable. The
back band  provides support, though it is positioned lower than our reviewers
were  accustomed to. SN got used to it, but DA and DM thought it failed to
provide  good support. It also tends to get caught under the paddler when
sliding into  the boat, and requires some fussing to get it out of the way and
in its proper  position. The padding glued to the underside of the deck is
"adequate [as thigh  bracing] but an owner would almost certainly want to
customize it" (DM). For SN  the padding provides no support but only presses
against his kneecaps. The foot  braces ware solid and easily adjustable. There
is no rudder.


The Hawk has "low" (DM) to "moderate" (SN)
  initial stability and "good" (DM) to "excellent" (SN) secondary stability:
"Like  leaning on a wall" (DA). In calm conditions the Hawk tracks well. Though
DA  thought it is slow to carve turns, SN and DM thought the Hawk turned "very
well  when set on edge" (SN). It "tracks well, but is very responsive to carved
turns  when put on edge" (DM). "Because of this responsiveness-among the most
  responsive of the boats I've tested-the boat is a bit nervous in rough
  conditions. With time in the boat, this trait would be appreciated. I found it
  fun, but I had to stay on my toes" (DM). SN and DA noted the Hawk weathercocks
  in winds to 15 knots. In slightly higher winds (to 20 knots), DM "found the
boat  easy to control. I was able to hold the boat on any course with no
difficulty.  Particularly impressive was the ability to stay on the downwind
quartering  course that often results in broaching problems."
 

The Hawk is a
"fairly  fast boat" (DM). "It accelerated and held speed with little effort"
(DA). "The  ride is fairly dry, but it is easy to dig the bow into oncoming
waves, [but]  there isn't anything on the deck to deflect water into my face, so
I stayed  pretty dry" (DM). "The Hawk flies on wind waves. It catches wind waves
easily  and is easy to control on the waves using boat lean and stern rudder
strokes. It  throws much less spray when surfing than other boats I usually
paddle" (DM).  "Broaches were slow, predictable and I could usually recover from
them."  (SN).
SN thinks the Hawk is an easy kayak to roll: "No obstructions,
and with  the back band and low cockpit it is easy to lay back."


In the bulkheaded compartments, there is
  room enough for a week's worth of gear for a careful packer. The compartments
  are low and narrow in the ends. The hatches are "adequate" (DA) but "larger
  hatches would make it easier to pack" (SN). The toggle closure system is
simple,  but "difficult to operate with cold hands" (SN). The bolts securing the
toggles  have rough ends and can snag gear bags. On the bright side, the hatches
didn't  leak during rough water trials and rolling. "Not a drop" (DM). "The
initial  instability is gone, [and the] speed felt good when loaded," wrote SN
of  paddling with 45 pounds of cargo.
 

"It was a delight
to  paddle this boat," wrote SN. "[It] appeared as if it would be unstable but
it  ended up being very predictable and stable enough for fishing and
photography."  "I liked the boat very much. It is one of the most beautiful
boats I have seen.  The designer has been more successful than I have been with
my own Greenland  boat in adapting the design for touring" (DA). DM expected a
bit more speed of  the Hawk but it was still in the "upper 10% of the boats I've
tested. Its  responsiveness makes the Hawk a fun boat to paddle, and the beauty
of the wood  generated compliments from others on the water."


Designer Response
I'm
pleased the reviewers enjoyed paddling the Hawk. It  was designed for the more
experienced touring paddler. The foremost criteria for  any kayak is its
seaworthiness. The Hawk has proven to be not only a fast  touring kayak, but one
that is seaworthy and responsive in rough seas. I was  equally pleased the
reviewers admired our watertight flush-mounting wood  hatches. Much thought has
gone into their design and construction. The flush  hatches keep the deck clear
of obstruction to avoid water deflection, and a high  quality neoprene gasket
assures their watertightness. Custom larger hatches are  available, but I feel
the standard hatches are adequate. The latching system is  secure and the rough
ends on the bolts have been eliminated.

I
believe kayaks should be carried by their ends and not  the rope, hence the lack
of toggles on the grab loops. Spare paddle mountings  are set up for Greenland
paddles only. The seating area with hip plates and back  strap was designed to
offer comfort and support, and can be easily custom  padded. It is important the
back strap be low enough to allow the paddler to  lean back on the deck. The
paddler just needs to become accustomed to entering a  kayak with a pivoting
back strap.
I thank  the reviewers for
their compliments on the fine craftsmanship. I take great  pride in my work and
the beauty of my wood/fiberglass kayaks. Many options are  available, including
a retractable skeg. To date, I have designed five touring  kayaks in various
sizes, which I build in mahogany/epoxy and glass. Two designs  are licensed
through Wilderness Systems for manufacture in fiberglass or Kevlar.  Each design
is of Greenland origin yet serves a distinct group of paddlers. I am  glad the
Hawk can accommodate those paddlers wishing to tour in a fast,  seaworthy
kayak.. Mark Rogers


Options and Pricing)
Standard Construction: Cold-molded
4mm okoume mahogany plywood sealed with West  System Epoxy and encapsulated in
multiple layers of fiberglass  cloth.
Standard Features: Bulkheads, wood hatches fore and aft, deck rigging,
spare  paddle mountings, grab loops, molded seat, hip plates, adjustable back
strap,  foot braces, knee padding, lifetime warranty.
Options:
Recessed  compass, $100; VCP hatches, $75;
retractable skeg, $100; day hatch with third  bulkhead, $50.
Approximate Weight:44 pounds
Price:
$2,900.00.