Solo Touring Inflatable Kayaks

Solo Touring Inflatable Kayak Details

Note: For 2021, it appears that despite what is discussed below, i.e. that Innova is our primary brand for both solo and tandem touring models, we and other dealers will be hard pressed to get any inventory until at least very late in the year. Innova is planning on some distribution through a Canadian company that includes a canoe retailer, but for now they seem to be selling off a few random 2019 and 2020 models on their own Innova website. They plan to close down their U.S. warehouse, which was in New Hampshire, so when we have more news we will post it. There are other brands with solo open water inflatables, but they are brands we have not traditionally carried. Everything else in the paragraphs below is what we wrote a couple years back before there were supply issues due to Covid shutdowns.

The kayaks shown below are mostly shorter one person-only models. Many of the kayaks in our Tandem Touring section can be converted for solo use as well. Generally a solo boat in the range of 10' or more will be able to carry overnight gear, a dog, or a small child, but not much more.

What is a "touring" inflatable? This means that the boats in this section of our site are made primarily - or solely - to be used in ocean, bay, and flat water environments, with an emphasis on hull speed rather than the level of stability that is required for a whitewater model. Whitewater means rivers and rapids, not whitecaps!

You may notice that most of what follows is from Innova, with only one AIRE and one NRS kayak to break the monotony. The simple reason for this is that no other company makes the variety of high performance touring models as Innova, or at least not a line of quality boats under $900. The factory where Innova boats are made also produces the rubber material, and except for the Swing EX here, all of them are now made with heavy 1200 denier raft weight material. This factory has been making inflatables since the late 1970's, about as long as any operating boat factory out there.

The newest Innova model here is the 2020 Rush I solo, and you can read it's description for some insight into the rather unusual construction used. Two of the boats below are fishing models, though they could also be thought of as “multi-purpose”. The popular Safari kayak was stretched out about half a foot a while back, giving it slightly better weight capacity and hull speed, plus more gear space if needed. As a bonus, it just went down another $50 in cost. This model was originally $900 so the current price is pretty amazing for what you get.

Although it is not on our site at the moment, we do have in stock something called a VersaCat frame. A VersaCat frame is used with two Safaris, spaced about a foot apart, to form a paddle cat rig. Eight straps attach the two kayaks via their bail holes. What this frame does is allow you to take two Safaris into levels of whitewater that would normally send you for a lot of swims, given that the Safaris are a bit tippy for river use. With the frame, each Safari becomes the outrigger for the other one. We also get asked if this frame can be set up for sailing or a motor mount. We really intended this system as a whitewater rig, so if you wanted to add a mast base or motor mount plate, yes, it could be done but it would have to be homemade. Call us if you have questions. These frames go for $449 and are compact take-apart heavy wall aluminum.

The Swing EX solo has an optional rudder, not shown below, that can be ordered. We haven’t tried this rudder or the one for the tandem Seawave yet, so we don't have any personal feedback to share on their functionality. There are also sprayskirts available for the various Swing models, found on our Kayak Accessory page.

If you go to the intro for the Tandem Touring inflatable kayak there is more information about basic selection and criterion for choosing your inflatable, but we didn't want to duplicate it here for the time being. As always, call us at 925-820-2628 with any questions, or email us at theboatpeople@hotmail.com