{"id":18569,"date":"2018-01-26T16:20:39","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/?p=18569"},"modified":"2018-01-26T16:20:39","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:20:39","slug":"wavewalk-s4-kayak-with-9-8-hp-tohatsu-outboard-motor-offshore-in-waves-at-full-throttle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/26\/wavewalk-s4-kayak-with-9-8-hp-tohatsu-outboard-motor-offshore-in-waves-at-full-throttle\/","title":{"rendered":"Wavewalk S4 &#8220;kayak&#8221; with 9.8 HP Tohatsu outboard motor, offshore, in waves, at full throttle"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Kayak, skiff, or PWC?<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Kayak&#8221;??&#8230; This is likely to be the last thing that comes to mind of anyone watching this movie, but indeed, the S4, like all Wavewalk&#8217;s patented catamaran boats, is officially designated as a kayak, not just because of its light weight (98 lbs) and high performance as a paddle craft, but mainly thanks to certain design features required by law.<br \/>\nSkiff?&#8230; The kind of performance seen in this movie is not what you&#8217;d expect from a skiff or skiff by name.<br \/>\nWavewalk likes to bring forward the S4&#8217;s performance as a skiff, namely a fishing boat for flat water, but there&#8217;s no flat water to be seen in this offshore movie&#8230; far from that!<br \/>\nPWC?&#8230; Such comparison would have been more appropriate if we used wheel steering instead of direct steering with the tiller, and possibly an even more powerful motor than the 9.8 HP Tohatsu that features in this movie. Nevertheless, the movie conveys some of the action and excitement associated with Personal Watercraft (PWC), sometimes referred to as jet-skis.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HM16hvbibf8?rel=0&amp;ecver=1\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>PWC stability at high speed<\/h3>\n<p>This video shows the Wavewalk S4 powered by a 9.8 HP Tohatsu outboard motor, driven at full throttle, offshore, in choppy water and waves.<br \/>\nIt demonstrates a performance level that&#8217;s new in the world of small boats and watercraft, including both <a href=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/22\/driving-an-s4-motorized-kayak-skiff-with-a-9-8-hp-tohatsu-outboard-at-17-mph\/\">unrivaled speed<\/a> and stability that enables stand-up driving and wave-hopping that one expects to find only in Personal Watercraft (PWC).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18584 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-3.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-3-200x141.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-3-640x450.jpg 640w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-3-768x540.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Perfect balancing and ergonomic saddle seat<\/h3>\n<p>The Wavewalk design and PWC have one feature in common, which is their similar saddle seats that deliver the best balancing capabilities to the driver and passengers. But the advantage of the saddle seat doesn&#8217;t end there &#8211; The saddle also allows the driver and passengers&#8217; legs to act naturally as powerful and effective shock absorbers that protect their backs from the unwanted impact of the constant leaps and bounds, and high speed clashes with waves.<\/p>\n<p>Being officially designated as a kayak, the S4 delivers these capabilities in a paddling mode too, although at much lower speeds&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18581 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4-200x120.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4-640x384.jpg 640w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Standing-in-the-fastest-kayak-the-Wavewalk-S4-1170x702.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>A most seaworthy small boat<\/h3>\n<p>The performance seen in this video is not the kind of performance that flat-bottomed boats such as Jon boats or skiffs can deliver. The S4 is seaworthy, while these traditional small fishing boats aren&#8217;t.<br \/>\nWhat cannot be well perceived from watching this movie is the fact that the S4 is dry too &#8211; Frontal clashes with waves do not let water into its hulls, and the only time when spray gets in is when the boat is hits a wave with its broadside. Even then, very little water gets inside.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18578 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak-.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak--200x120.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak--640x384.jpg 640w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak--768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak--1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Driving-the-worlds-fastest-motor-kayak--1170x702.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Shooting this video<\/h2>\n<p>The cameraman was Captain Larry Jarboe, standing on the deck of his fishing boat, the Line Dancer, that was anchored in the same choppy waters as the S4 is seen going in. The Line Dancer was constantly bouncing and tilting, which made it particularly difficult to shoot video of another, distant and fast moving small boat.<br \/>\nLarry used a Nikon Coolpix 900 digital camera with a powerful x83 optical zoom lens, in an auto-focus mode, but since placing this camera on a tripod would have been useless under these hectic conditions, Larry&#8217;s sea legs were the decisive factor that helped produce the video footage for this movie.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18582 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-1-200x141.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-1-640x450.jpg 640w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-1-768x540.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>The White Knight &#8211; Larry&#8217;s workhorse S4<\/h3>\n<p>The boat in this movie is Larry&#8217;s personal S4, dubbed the White Knight. Larry offers fishing and diving tours in Key Largo, and it is this boat that he uses in these trips, and on a daily basis. The White Knight features a base for a diving ladder at the bow, and foam boards on its sides, since Larry sometimes uses it to side-tow two other S4s,each attached to a different side of the White Knight.<\/p>\n<p>The White Knight is powered by a 9.8 HP 2-cycle Tohatsu outboard motor, and Larry recently clocked 17 mph with it, which is a world speed record for kayaks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18583 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-2-200x141.jpg 200w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-2-640x450.jpg 640w, https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Worlds-fastest-kayak-2-768x540.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Driving the S4<\/h2>\n<p>The S4 operator in this movie is 56 years old, and not in great shape. An athletic driver half his age would have probably driven the S4 more aggressively and spectacularly, but that tired-looking, gray haired driver adds a feeling of reality to the video, or so we hope&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kayak, skiff, or PWC? &#8220;Kayak&#8221;??&#8230; This is likely to be the last thing that comes to mind of anyone watching this movie, but indeed, the S4, like all Wavewalk&#8217;s patented catamaran boats, is officially designated as a kayak, not just because of its light weight (98 lbs) and high performance as a paddle craft, but &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/26\/wavewalk-s4-kayak-with-9-8-hp-tohatsu-outboard-motor-offshore-in-waves-at-full-throttle\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Wavewalk S4 &#8220;kayak&#8221; with 9.8 HP Tohatsu outboard motor, offshore, in waves, at full throttle&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":18577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-category"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18569"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18592,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18569\/revisions\/18592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wavewalk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}