The Easky 15 is a handy touring boat from Venture Kayaks, owned by P&H and Pyranha, leading makers of sea and whitewater kayaks. Drawing from British sea kayak design, the Easky blends modern comfort and ample storage space with traditional sea kayak performance, making it perfect for day trippers and overnighters alike.
With the Easky, P&H’s veteran sea kayak designers worked to fit the most important features of a sea kayak into the affordable package. The design features hatches that are actually dry, a seat you can park your butt in for a whole day, and solid on-water performance. The Easky 15 is the real deal, not just a rec kayak dressed up in sea kayak accoutrements that blow out on the first wave.
Venture Easky 15 Specs
Length: 15’
Width: 23.5”
Volume: 86 gal
Front hatch: 12.2 gal
Rear hatch: 20.3 gal
Weight: 50 lbs
MSRP: $1,295 USD
The Easky 15 is a beginner-friendly boat with an alter ego
The Easky has a roomy, non-claustrophobia-inducing cockpit, lots of features for recreational uses that you don’t find on high-end kayaks, like a paddle park so you can drift and take pictures, mounting locations for fishing rod holders, an on-deck storage pod and a Flip Top backrest that can be extended for mid back support.
Then the Easky flashes its hardcore alter ego—whitewater-style moulded thigh braces that give a positive lock on that otherwise loose-fitting cockpit; a carveable hard-chine hull; watertight foam bulkheads and the same rubber Kajaksport hatches found on P&H’s premium lineup. All this gives the Easky respectable speed, nimble manoeuvrability and rough-water capability.
Edge carving in the Easky 15 takes effort—primary and secondary stability lean to the recreational side of the design spectrum—but the performance is there if you push it.
The Easky comes in 13 and 17 models too. The 17 is an expedition touring kayak with a cargo capacity that’s unmatched in its price category. The 13, with wider dimensions, is more for short-distance, recreational use. The 15 is the just-right size for day touring and short overnighters, the friendliest length offering true sea kayak performance. It’s available with either a skeg (as tested) or a rudder, and is also available in an LV (low-volume) version that is shallower and one inch narrower, for women and other smaller paddlers weighing 150 pounds or less.
Features of note for the Easky 15
Convertible
The Flip Top seat offers two height options. Aggressive, moulded and padded whitewater-style thigh braces provide the necessary boat control for edging and include a ratchet for easy backband adjustment.
Groovy
The Easky hull is constructed of light-weight single-layer polyethylene that is less rigid than the multi-layer plastic found in its P&H cousins, so Venture stiffens the hull with parallel ridges. The shallow-arch bottom provides rock solid primary stability while the hard chine lends manoeuvrability on edge.
It’s in the mould
Moulded-in features include: flat areas behind the seat for flush-mount fishing rod holders, anti-slip handrests for entering and exiting, a locking bar, a recess for a paddle shaft outrigger on the rear deck, full perimeter deck-lines and deck bungees, a paddle holder on the front deck and a divot for the pod—a front-deck-mounted dry storage compartment that now comes standard. The skeg operates with a shock cord and a string to eliminate cable kink, with the control behind the cockpit.
