Boat Review: The 15.5 Sport by Delta Kayaks

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS TAKE NOTE. Many people say there’s no money to be made in the kayak business. And yet a brand new company, Delta Kayaks has appeared out of nowhere, spread to retail shops across the continent and built its product line from zero to 13 models in a just couple of years. Weirder still, we hear that a high-powered politician, British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell, visited the Delta factory a few months ago and bought a fleet of kayaks for his family and friends. It’s likely no accident that Delta has the same name as an elite U.S. military special ops force.

For further proof that something funny’s going on, peek inside the hatches. In February, we reviewed the capacious Current Designs Titan, which has a whopping 220 litres of dry storage. The Delta 15.5 Sport, which is a good two feet shorter and three inches shallower, has a storage capacity of 224 litres. How is that possible? Well, it isn’t. And yet we saw for ourselves on a four-day trip that the Delta’s hatches are as big as they say. Furthermore, by our calculations, the 15.5’s shorter waterline and broad, buoyant ends should make it a bit slower than longer and narrower expedition kayaks, and yet it holds its own with longer boats. Very suspicious.

Delta has packed the good looks, speed, tracking, light weight and capacity of a full-size composite expedition boat into a rec- kayak package. All this in the best-looking thermoform plastic kayak we’ve seen. The advantage of thermoform is that it looks as good as fibreglass, yet is cheaper and often lighter. Although thermoform is inherently less rigid than composite or polyethylene, Delta uses stiffeners in the sides and decks to counteract the flex. Overall, we were impressed by the 15.5’s tracking and rock-solid initial stability. It’s not well suited to edging, but turns well with help from the paddle or rudder. There’s likely no better sit-in kayak for fishing, photography or building the confidence of a novice paddler, while also being suited to long trips.

Determined to blow the lid on Delta’s secrets, we spent several days camped out at the factory in Maple Ridge, B.C. We saw trucks pull into the compound and drive away loaded with candy-coloured kayaks. But in all that time, no workers ever came or left. The only signs of life were the tiny shadows dancing in the greenish glow of the frosted windows 24 hours a day, and the faint sound of singing.

SUPERNATURALLY COMFORTABLE