Range Overview

Whilst from the outside the choice of sea-kayaks can seem daunting, break that decision down and there are only three key decisions to make, these being:

· Broadly What Type of Kayak do I Need?
· Of Models Within That Category Which is Best Suited To Me and My Needs?
· Finally What Construction Will Match My Needs and My Budget?

This section sets out to help answer the first question. The individual product pages and the Boat Selector section of the website will then help refine you choices further.

The most popular Valley kayaks form the contemporary range, these are the boats listed on the Composite and Polyethylene Pages. Unless you have a very particular requirement, these are the kayaks I would recommend you look at first. There are three base designs within this category; The Avocet, The Aquanaut and The Nordkapp. All of these designs conform to what is now widely referred to as the British style of sea-kayak design. This is a design style that many believe started with the original Nordkapp, in 1974 and the style has evolved ever since. In simple terms they have moderate ‘V’ hulls and soft (round) chines and are designed primarily to be skeged boats. In practice, these design characteristics, give predictable and versatile kayaks suited to all types of open-water paddling in all types of conditions. Whilst all three models exhibit the versatility these core features impart each also has its own finer design and performance traits that make them better weighted to some types of paddling.

For those interested more in Inuit style paddling, the history of the sport or have a favoured kayak from the past Valley offers a range of Greenland and Classic designs.

The Greenland style kayaks feature hard-chines reminiscing of the skin on frame kayaks developed by the indigenous people of Greenland. The Anas Acuta in particular can trace its heritage & design back to an original skin boat that was brought back to England in the 1960’s. Whilst the Q-Boat is a more modern take on the theme. Hard-Chine boats have a very distinctive feel and are acutely sensitive to edge control, some people relish in this sensitivity others find it a little unsettling. I recommend all experienced paddlers try a hard-chine boat at least once in their paddling lives just to feel what they can do.

The Classic’s include some of the models Valley’s reputation has been built on, boats like the HM and HS Ocean-Cockpit Nordkapp’s and the Avocet’s predecessor The Pintail again also available with this older style Ocean-Cockpit. These choices are great for those who have a favoured older design, just like the smaller confines of the Ocean cockpit or maybe have an older boat that has seen better days, this way they can have a new boat but keep the same design.

The final category within the Valley range is for Sport and Fitness paddling; these kayaks have more racing or surf-ski derived hulls. These hulls are much rounder in cross section they also feature less overhang in the ends, maximising waterline length. Whilst most of our other kayaks have skegs as standard the Sport and Fitness Model feature rudders. Whilst these kayaks are open-water capable their specialty is covering distance as efficiently as possible, doing this they do sacrifice some rough-water handling and stability, great fun whilst on the move though.

Hopefully the above has helped explain the difference between Valley’s various models. For more specific help selecting the right kayak for you please visit our ‘Boat Selector’ page