Experience with Pideraq from Welhonpesä

[the_paddler]

Hello,

first please excuse that I am going to write in english. My swedish is non existent but I am looking for your help.
I am looking for a new seakayak. After a while I found a company called "Welhonpesä" which is more or less unknown in Germany. Just one dealer is importing them. I am specially interested in the "Pideraq". I saw here in this forum, that there are much more people owning a Pideraq. I tested the Pideraq last weekend and I was really impressed by that boat. Nice handling, fast, stable, a good finishing and well equipped.
But I am looking for long time experience with that boat. Can one of you share his impression with me? Is the material (Diolen) really stable for a long time? Is the manufacture that good (and is my first impression correct)? I read something about finnisch and latvian production, but I understand nothing in detail. Can you help me here?
Most of the time I will use this boat on the river Rhine, but I plan as well several trips to the german Northsea. Right now, I am using a Lettmann Arctic for those trips. Nice boat, high end finish, but with 420l much to big for me
I would be glad, if someone can help me with my question.

Thanx a lot!

Bye,

Tom

 

[tiddelipom]

Hello,

first please excuse that I am going to write in english. My swedish is non existent but I am looking for your help.
I am looking for a new seakayak. After a while I found a company called "Welhonpesä" which is more or less unknown in Germany. Just one dealer is importing them. I am specially interested in the "Pideraq". I saw here in this forum, that there are much more people owning a Pideraq. I tested the Pideraq last weekend and I was really impressed by that boat. Nice handling, fast, stable, a good finishing and well equipped.
But I am looking for long time experience with that boat. Can one of you share his impression with me? Is the material (Diolen) really stable for a long time? Is the manufacture that good (and is my first impression correct)? I read something about finnisch and latvian production, but I understand nothing in detail. Can you help me here?
Most of the time I will use this boat on the river Rhine, but I plan as well several trips to the german Northsea. Right now, I am using a Lettmann Arctic for those trips. Nice boat, high end finish, but with 420l much to big for me
I would be glad, if someone can help me with my question.

Thanx a lot!

Bye,

Tom

Hi Tom,

I have been paddling my Pideraq since 2001. This last autumn I added another kayak to my "shipyard", a Nelo Inuk, but I will keep my old Pideraq. I guess that this might be enought to let you know that I like my Pideraq very much. But I'll take a moment to try to describe what I like (and don't like) with that kayak.
I wouldn't say that it's a very fast kayak ... neither that it's slow (not at all). It's very easy to paddle and to paddle it at a good speed for hours and hours without too much effort. If you push it a litte bit harder you will be able to go a bit faster but then I feel as if you quite clearly will reach the maximum speed. The volume in the bow and stearn is comparible low (the hull is even has a convex shape in both ends) and I guess that is one of the reasons why the kayak "follows the waves" more then a lot of other kayaks. I like that a lot. When I first bought it it made me feel a bit insecure but when you get to know the kayak it gives the opposite feeling. I have tried quite a few kayaks and there are not many that will be able to go that smoth and easy as my Pideraq when the waves are coming in from 45 degrees (from bow or stern).
It's very easy to manouver without the skeg down but you'll need the skeg to keep the direction in wind and waves. I have added a rudder to my Pideraq.
The space for carrying luggage is't huge (due to the form of the hull) but I'm quite often out on one or two weeks trips without any problems.
The deck behind the cockpit is fairly high which make the storage compartment larger ... but which makes is more difficult to make an eskimo-roll. The higher deck in the back even give the kayak a tendency to stear up into the wind when paddling wiht the wind from one side. You are able to control that with the skeg to a certain extent ... but I have chosen to add a rudder. It's not at all necessary (I used it for two, three years before that with just the skeg) but I feel that the rudder makes it easier.

I found the quality very good. But ... the Pideraqs have been made in two different places .. a low budget version from Estonia and a higher quality from Welhon (the nothern part of Helsinki, Finland). They looks very much just the same (think that the estonian has a white cockpit rim??). I know that there have been some problems with the quality of estonian version and I think that Welhon has stopped to produce them there since a couple of years back. The guys who started Welhon some years ago came from KajakSport who are making really good quallity kayaks.

I have a new kayak too but I won't sell my Pideraq. It's not of nostagic reasons but just simply because like that kayak .. and I'll use my Pideraq for winter paddling and at times when I feel that it's performance will suit me better.
If you have nay more questions about the Pideraq please don't hesitate to contact me on my e-mail.

Lennart

 

[the_paddler]

Dear Lennart,

thank you very much for the time you took to write this really good description. Now I really think, that in some weeks there will be a nice new Pideraq living here in Düsseldorf.
Some remarks to you description.
- Skeg vs. rudder
I prefer to use the skeg. First, I do not like the rudder at the end because of optical reasons but as well because of the contact surface for wind. I had some bad experience here. So it is really good, that you can paddle the boat only with a skeg.
- place of manufacture
I asked the guy who is importing the boats to Germandy. He stated, that its true, that there were different places of manufacture, but since a while the boats are only build in Finland. The quality of the boats which are comming from Finnland is quite high, so I don't have to be carefull here.
- follows the waves
Thats nice I like surfing the waves on the surge. Up to now, I did this only with my Freestyle boat...
- eskimo roll
I wanted to check this during my test drive last weekend, but with only 3°C air temperature it was definitly to cold for that. But with such a slight boat, I can't believe that it's to difficult.

Just one final question to you. What about your weight? Sorry for this indiscreet question, but I heard several opinions about the max weight for paddlers in this boat. Most of the people mentioned, that you should not have more than ~85kg for this boat + luggage. I have ~77kg with 1,79 height. I think (hope), that there will be a little bit of tolerance for the one or the other beer or steak...

So, thanx again for your time.

CU on the water!

Bye,

Tom

 

[tiddelipom]

Just one final question to you. What about your weight? Sorry for this indiscreet question, but I heard several opinions about the max weight for paddlers in this boat. Most of the people mentioned, that you should not have more than ~85kg for this boat + luggage. I have ~77kg with 1,79 height. I think (hope), that there will be a little bit of tolerance for the one or the other beer or steak...

Tom

Hmmm .. let it put it this way - the last time I had a health check the doctor told me that I was a litte bit too short to my weight. My weight differs between 80 - 84 kg. I'm half a decimeter shorter then you.
I have never had any problems with the weight of the full loaded kayak ... including myself in it. Some good beers is an essential part of my kayak-filosofy too. I have never had any problems neither to fit in nor to carry the weight of all the stuff I need for a trip over a week or two (it's not a high volume kayak so you have to learn how to pack it). I usually carry most of the fresh water, the tent and other heavy stuff when I'm out together with my female partner. By the way .. she bought a Pideraq too last spring after having borrowed mine for some time.

Just a comment about rolling ... it's not at all impossible with the Pideraq ... even I can do it
But the relatively high rear deck and the shape of the kayak make it less easy then with some other kayaks i have paddled ... not least including my slender Inuk.

Good paddling!
Lennart