My Inflatable Kayaks - Part 8 - Stiletto XL

The Stiletto, originally made by Skykomish Boatworks (not to be confused with the boat of the same name made by Star Inflatables), is considered by many to be the best whitewater inflatable kayak you can get for hard whitewater. The boat is sleek and fast, yet it's stable. The foam floor makes for high performance and a low profile. These boats were made in the mid-90s, and their audience was somewhat limited (mostly Washington, a few in Oregon and Idaho, and a handful scattered throughout the rest of the country). By 2005, it was nearly impossible to find one in good shape. The company that made them had been out of business for years, but one of the creators of the boat was still in business. After a lot of pressure and people promising to buy the boats, he agreed to make another run. In the end, there were less than 25 boats, all in dark blue with most having grey floors (a few, such as mine, had white floors).

My Stiletto is an XL model. It's a few inches longer than the normal Stiletto, and the main part of the tube is a little bit bigger. The floor, on the other hand, is the normal length. This has a small disadvantage when going through large waves and holes, because it allows pools of water to stay in the bow and stern of the boat for a long time. With my other boats, I can lift the bow and keep water out of the boat, and if the boat fills up, it drains quickly. This doesn't happen with the Stiletto. I have to plan to run big rapids full of water. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - it's hard to flip a boat that's full of water, and the flat floor of the Stiletto makes it easy to maneuver even when it's full - it's just different. I've planned to create some sort of foam inserts for the bow and stern. This should help reduce the amount of water that can stay in the boat.

I rarely use my Stiletto, except as a guest boat. I like it, but I always worry that I'm going to hit a rock and tear the floor, so it's only a good boat for me in high water. Since I don't use it much, I only use it on easy high water. I've put the boat up for sale, but I haven't been trying very hard to sell it. It's such a nice boat.