We just got back from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for Jeanne’s family reunion. We brought all of the W kayaks along. Her family and friends had a blast and were impressed with them. It was fun for us sharing are love for the W kayaks with her family.
John
It introduced stand up paddling into the kayak world, as well as stand up fishing. To this date, no other kayak has shown such performance, except the W500.
The W300 also introduced the W saddle, and the Riding position, as well as the freedom to switch between a variety of comfortable positions – none of which is the infamous L kayaking position.
The W300 broke the records in kayak mobility and versatility, and was the first kayak to enable its operator to move fore and aft along the saddle, thus enabling to change the boat’s center of gravity (CG), and thereby gain the best control in strong wind, breaking waves, and fast current.
This was also the first kayak to offer leaning into the turn as means to facilitate turning – a feature that some kayak designers had argued was a fiction, until we proved it to be real in online demo videos 
The W300 gained fans in 4 continents, among kayakers and canoeists as well and anglers, who outfitted it with electric motors, outboard gas engines, and sails.
The W300 made people happy, whether they were 80 years old, or 5 years old. It was used for both solo and tandem paddling, and I loved playing with it in the ocean surf.
The W300 enabled people with sore backs and other health issues to paddle and fish again – Without it they would have had to stay at home, or go in a motorboat.
The W300 took 3 years to design and build. Jo Mares, a boat builder and offshore kayak fisherman from Key West, Florida, said about his 2006 W300: -”…still thrilled with the W and not have been able to improve the basic concept without detracting from it in some other way. The W really is the best”
This was an important sentence for me, since it forced me to work harder in designing the next generation of W kayak – the W500 series. The challenge we took upon ourselves was to improve everything… and today, one year after we launched the W500, it’s possible to say we succeeded:
Customers who already owned a W300 and tried the W500 unanimously said that the W500 was much better. Some of them sold their old W300, and some kept them as ‘guest’ boats
New customers kept ordering the W500, and praising it, and the W300 became so much less popular in comparison to the new, bright star, that we finally decided to discontinue it. However, we’ve kept all the customer reviews on it on our website – for sentimental reasons – We simply love this boat
I went to Huntington Harbor on Sat. I had no problems paddling my W500 in the sitting position. I had to paddle thru a deep area to get to a shallow part of the harbor. I paddled around in the sitting position for a while in that area. After I felt comfortable, I stood up and paddled in the standing position (in the shallow area, about 1 to 2 feet deep). On the way back, I had to paddle thru deep areas and paddled in both in the standing and sitting position.
I took it slow, and I found the W to be very stable. I think my experience with SOT, ATV and riding horses helped.
I didn’t take a fishing equipment on my first trip, and will not take any while I’m learning to handle the W. After that I’ll start using the W for offshore fishing.
W loaded on Tundra to head home. My wife made the red flags about 8 years ago that I used to clip to the handles of my SOT while transporting those kayaks.
Have fun watching this movie 
This is the first time I try paddling in tandem with a paddler that’s heavier than me, while I paddle standing up.
Craig is 215 lbs, and I’m 200 lbs, and with our gear etc. our combined weight was 440 lbs, and that’s 80 lbs above the max recommended load capacity for the W500, which is 360 lbs.
It was fun, and pretty easy, although the overloaded W500 was somehow sluggish.
Kayak fishing hype is everywhere, but the truth has a value of its own, since it can be demonstrated and proven in real life:
Kayak stability without comfort and safety is a misnomer, and so is kayak fishing standing and stand up paddling without comfort and safety.
It is not reasonable to expect a paddler or angler to rise up from the L position to a standing position, and it is reckless to expect that they’ll sit down from a standing position in case they lose balance, which always happens when you stand up in or on top a kayak.
This is where the 14 inches high W kayak saddle shines…
Craig Masterman is a fly fisherman from Massachusetts who likes to fish in saltwater, usually in Cape Cod and Florida.
Craig has already contributed a review of his W300 fly fishing kayak, and innovative rigging solutions.
Here are his latest innovative creations:
I’ve been working on this enhanced set-up for fly fishing from my W300. I used two short sections of the floatation noodle: one section for the front of the cockpit rim with a groove to hold the rod centered and a slit a couple inches aside of the groove to hold the leader tight, and the other section with a short bungee cord through it strung between the forward rigging loops on the hulls for the forward fly rod support rest. The darker layer on the forward rod support rest is an additional layer of foam pipe insulation secured with electrical zip ties. The idea was to have a place for the rod to rest securely with some line already stripped off the reel and ready to cast while I stand and paddle scouting for fish. A second rod can be carried in the side mounted rubber clips as seen in the pictures, all rigged and ready, as I described in my original rigging set up a couple of years ago.
Craig
You will also notice that I have installed a set of six snaps (kit available at any hardware store) along the outside edge of the forward part of the cockpit rim. I used an old towel and cut it to size and shape to snap to the rim to hold it draped over the front third of the cockpit. This is my rendition of a stripping “basket” which keeps the line away from the bottom of the hulls (and my feet) as I strip the fly line in on the retrieve. Although a crude installation, this “line management device” and rod rest design works very well as a fly fishing accessory.
Paddling a kayak in tandem isn’t easy, as anyone who tried would tell you.
Getting two teenage brothers to do something together isn’t easy either, as frustrated parents would attest.
Therefore, putting two teenage brothers in one kayak and getting them to paddle it in tandem should be considered a particularly ambitious project, unless that kayak happens to be the Wavewalk W500:
The paddlers are 14 year old Yadin and his 11 year old brother Yanay.
Their aggregate weight is 235 lbs.
Some DIY projects are special – Kevin Eastman is a fly kayak fisherman from Florida, who made a DIY Greenland – Aleutian style kayak paddle for his new W500 fishing kayak.
Contrarily to what most kayakers seem to believe, aboriginal kayak paddle were not necessarily short as standard modern paddles are, and some could be as long as the paddle Kevin made, and even longer. The decision about the length of the paddle depended on the owner’s plans for usage and paddling style, and sometimes on the availability of materials in the barren Arctic.
Says Kevin:
-I made a Greenland/Aleutian paddle for my W500. So far it seems to be working out very well, and it has the advantage of being very light. One face of the paddle is the beveled Greenland style and the other face is a flatter Aleutian style. The Greenland face allows for quicker acceleration while the Aleutian surface shines at faster speeds.
It’s 9 1/2 feet long and about 3 1/2″ wide at the tip. I made it from a 10′ cedar 2X4 and finished it in teak oil. The loom (hand hold area) is 24″. I think using cedar is the key for this long of a paddle. Using some of the other woods used for shorter Greenland paddles would make it a bit heavy.
The paddle is nearly as light as the Pacific Design paddle I use for my other kayaks, and has a very low swing weight because of the thin blades, making it easy to paddle long periods without fatigue. The flex of the wood and dynamics of the paddle also make it easy one the joints.
I took a picture with it next to my Pacific Design paddle for size comparison:
Since I’m in Florida with oyster bars everywhere, I decided to protect the paddle tip with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. So far that is keeping the oysters at bay.
The drip rings are made out of oval pieces of inner tube. These are essential since the long blade surface accumulates a lot of water that will otherwise end up in your lap.
This is a fairly easy project for anyone that is game to try. There are lots of “how to” articles to be found on the Web. It’s also the first time I’ve made one.
The paddle can be used very well without a sliding stroke, but if you need to dig in on a turn it helps out. Also when standing, the sliding stroke helps with more speed, but is not needed.
One thing it does do is allow you to keep the paddle very low around the waist when stroking and use your torso to put the power to the paddle well.
I was going to order an extended midsection for my P.D. paddle initially, but after using this, I may just be content.
I’m going to take some GPS readings to see what speeds it will cruise at vs a traditional wide paddle.
I’ll send some more pictures of my W500 when I finally decide on how I’m going to rig this boat.
I did a little umbrella sailing yesterday and that was interesting.
Kevin
Most people think that paddling a kayak in flat water isn’t very interesting. They are right, when sit-in and SOT kayaks are considered, but flat wrong when W kayaks are:
This movie is one of my favorites. It shows the W300 performing like no other paddle craft before, and highlights some of the W important advantages for paddling, touring and kayak fishing.
The reason I chose to post it again on this blog is because I recently discovered how to add annotations to YouTube videos
Yoav
Rod Ratzlaff, a Colorado kayaker and eclectic outdoorsman, got his W500 earlier this year, and we already published his ‘first impression’ kayak review on this blog.
Since then, Rod wrote a full featured article about his W500 kayak, and kindly contributed a copy to our website.
Rod’s article has insightful observations and reflections, great pictures, and interesting links, including to his own website that’s definitely worth visiting.
Rod and his wife Toni worked together on some unique modifications and outfitting projects, including a sophisticated rudder system – Rod needs it when he sails his W500 with an umbrella! (you must see that!), a truly amazing spray deck (fairing) and an equally amazing cockpit cover, a great looking seat pad, a portable electric motor, and other smart and artistic items…
My favorite work of art is the W logo sewn on the spray deck
Yoav
