Amarok in red

The yellow Inuit Amarok I wrote about has been sold some years ago. But when I saw a newer version with the longer cockpit I couldn't resist making a bid... The result is a beautiful Amarok in red:

The longer V-shaped cockpit makes entry a bit easier and the skeg mechanism is also more modern as compared to the older version. Of course this boat is well built by Inuit. The rubber lids are still usable but should be replaced soon. Unfortunately, the outer skeg cable appeared to be loose from the skeg box. An unexpected setback that however was easy to repair.

Surfing the Amarok

One day last month the wind forecast was ideal to test the Amarok surfing.

I made a trip from IJburg to Gemaal De Blocq van Kuffeler with a firm 5-6 Bft wind in the back. I first surfed from IJburg to Pampus Island to wait there for my club mates who arrived from Almere Haven. Together we surfed to Gemaal De Blocq van Kuffeler where I was collected by car.

13 kms of surfing

The Amarok is certainly a decent surfer. I was always at the frontline of the group, so speed wasn't a problem. However, I couldn't notice any advantages of the shorter length. It still needs significant power to pull into a surf. I think comparable with other longer sea kayaks like the Shadow. In my memory the Explorer was still a lot easier to launch.

Typical behaviour of the Amarok in a surf is: a quick start but also a quick stop when the bow burries itself in the wave. On a steep wave such a 'brake' could be quite forceful and I got covered with water up to my waist. Not a problem of course and quite spectaculair. But I didn't manage to surf over multiple waves like I can sometimes with the Shadow or Inua.

The limited maneuverability of the Amarok makes it difficult to keep the boat straight on the waves. It breaks out quickly. Using about half the skeg seemed to be the best compromize to hold the boat straight and still be able to make some corrections. In fact this behaviour does remind me of other 'keel' boats like the Baidarka. Under these circumstances it is clear that the Shadow can be much better controlled.

Conclusion for me is that the Amarok is not the excellent surfer I had hoped for. It certainly is not bad and comparable with most sea kayaks. The lack of maneuverability doesn't help also. Still amazing that Inuit has designed this short boat to behave like a sea kayak that is 1 meter longer.

Inuit Inua

The longer and sleeker sister of the Inuit Amarok is the Inua. It is certainly has the looks of a good, traditional sea kayak:

Today I had the opportunity to paddle the Inua. I made a trip from IJburg to Pampus Isle. I had planned to go to Marken but the wind was too strong and my seating position wasn't very comfortable: the front bulkhead is too close for my long legs. The first leg was straight against the wind and the Inua sometimes slammed hard on the steep and high waves. Otherwise it seems a dry boat to paddle and it behaves like a real sea kayak: Easy to keep on course in all directions.

The Inua is certainly less stable than the Amarok, especially the initial stability took some time to get used to. The secundary stability was not convincing either, there seems no 'endpoint' where you can trust on. Nevertheless I was able to make the trip without real stability problems. The boat feels very fast and lively and took every wave with pleasure. To my surprise edging did work better than the Amarok. Of course I didn't feel very safe to edge a lot but the Inua is more maneuverable than you would expect. The directional stability was very good and the boat reacts very good on the retractable skeg. 

After a break on Pampus Isle I returned to IJburg. To my surprise the Inua appeared to be a good surfer that could be easily pulled in a surf. And in a surf it is fast... very fast! The last part I took the waves from aside and here the lack of stability needed my attention. Probably you can get used to it and may be smaller persons will not have any problem at all.

Later, a club member tried the Inua. As he is much smaller than me, I had expected the stability would be better for him. But instead, he found the Inua unstable too. Conclusion is that the lack of stability is simply by design and cannot be 'fixed' easily. For me the stability would be sufficient for day trips or expeditions on sheltered water. I wouldn't use it on sea. May be I will keep the Inua but than I have to move the bulkhead forwards to fit my long legs. May be I will try to sell it. I am still thinking about it.

The build quality of the Inua is excellent. The skeg operates direct and smoothly. And no drop of water within the three compartments. Both the Inua and Amarok were built by the now closed Inuit yard in Arnemuiden.

The Amarok on speed

Curious about the speed I took the Amarok on a short trip. First, I inserted some hard foam against the bulkhead to get a better footbrace. It was better but still a bit too far away. I recorded the trip with Strava. I tried to paddle 'reasonable' fast, not speeding. Here are the results:

I think 7.0 - 7.3 km/h is a reasonable speed and comparable with the Orion and Skarabee. The Explorer would have been faster.

There was some light wind about 2 Bft. The Amarok did show some weathercocking. As I took some gear in the front compartment I think this made the weathercocking worse. So on the return I put the gear in the rear compartment more close to the middle of the boat. My first impression is that the skeg is not very effective. It needs a lot of skeg to correct the slight weathercocking. The skeg is also very loose in the skeg box, may be here is something to win.

As expected the Amarok tracked very well, it is a real keel boat. It does remind me of the Baidarka. Edging is not very effective: no way you can control the Amarok as you can the Shadow. A stern rudder seems the only thing that really works. It is strange to paddle such a short boat that is actually less maneuverable than the long Skarabee. 

There were no real waves but sometimes I got the impression the Amarok wanted to surf on small waves. I am curious about paddling her in more exciting weather soon.

Inuit Amarok

In the Netherlands there used to be some high-quality kayak builders e.g.VKN that built my Skarabee. Another one is Kanowerf Inuit Arnemuiden. Both yards are out of business for a long time now. From Rene I received an old prospect of the Inuit yard. I selected some sections about the most interesting boats: Inua and Amarok:

I was just curious and made an appointment to see an Amarok that was for sale. Actually I thought the Amarok may be a stable and maneuverable boat that could be ideal for short day trips and for giving instructions. When I arrived and had a look at the hull it appeared different as I had expected: the hull was round bottomed with a clear V-shape in the middle. The keel was straight from stem to stern. I tested it shortly on the water and indeed it wasn't so manoeverable at all. Primary stability was also not as firm as you would expect from a kayak with a large 60 cm beam. But because of these qualtities the boat feels like a real sea kayak. The end of story is that I took her home:

Upswept stem and stern

strong V and round shaped chines

straight keel

skeg slider and compass recess

Today I made a short trip of 12 km with her with some club members. I was especially interested to check the speed: would she be slower because of the shorter length? I didn't notice a difference compared with my other boats. Certainly no problem to keep up with the group and still some spare for an intermediate sprint. Stability was nice, I guess it must be very good in waves and troubled water due to her seaworthy hull shape. The only thing was that the skeg didn't operate very smoothly. And the front bulkhead was just a few centimeters too far away for good feet support.