KAYAK REVIEW
JANAUTICA VICTORIA An Entry-Level Fiberglass Pocket Cruiser
Reviewed by Canoe & Kayak * May 1995 Return to: VICTORIA SPECS
You can take a semi-truck down to the corner grocery to pick up a quart of milk, but a little compact will work just as well if not better. The same holds true when it comes to paddling down the bay for an afternoon or loading up for a lightweight summer weekend camping trip -- you can take a big expedition boat but one of the small and agile solo touring boats might just work as well if not a tad better.
Typical of the new look in lightweight touring boats is Janautica's Victoria a 14-ft. 3-in. by 26-inch beam fiberglass kayak made in Italy and imported by Splashdance in Niceville, FL. Depth at the front of the cockpit is 11 inches. The empty hull with a foam bulkhead behind the cockpit and a screw type hatch in the rear deck tips the scale at just over 35 pounds. It's a modified West Greenland design, moderately high volume, and comes with neither skeg nor rudder. Foot pegs mount on aluminum bars which slide along aluminum channels. The bars may be lifted off threaded pegs for inch by inch adjustment, and a wing nut will lock the bar into position. A small paddler may be able to adjust these while in the boat, but most will find it much more convenient to set up the pegs on the beach.
The Victoria may be ordered with an integral bilge pump, a feature virtually any cruising kayak should have. The demo boat did not have the pump mounted. It also comes with a flat platform on the bow deck for mounting a compass.
The Victoria also comes with bow to stern deck lines, suitable for most easy paddling. More serious paddlers may replace the lines and add crossed lines ahead of the cockpit for charts and a paddle float system aft of the cockpit.
The stern compartment will support the boat when swamped, albeit bow down. Most paddlers will prefer to stuff a float bag or one of the combo float bag/storage sacks into the bow for additional buoyancy.
Design-wise, the Victoria has a fairly flat keel line with some rise at the ends where the bow and stern flare. The hull is symmetrical, and the cross section amidships is a shallow arch. The hull is rigid, with no oil-canning in light to moderate swells. The deck is on the light side and will respond better to kayak saddles and strap tie-downs than it will to a rope lashing.
Let's go for a paddle.
There're two theories about cockpit design: One holds that the cockpit opening should be as small as comfortably possible with a correspondingly small and tight spray deck, while the other calls for a larger cockpit for ease of entrance and exit. The Janautica designers lean towards the smaller as the better end of the spectrum. It's not cramped, but you're not going to lean back with your knees up above deck level. However, the cockpit is easy to slip into, and the padded fabric lumbar support belt can be adjusted for fore and aft fit. The seat itself is low in the boat, and doesn't flex from side to side. More slender paddlers may prefer to add a bit of foam on the seat sides for a snugger fit. The seat angle and lip make a comfortable ride with the foot pegs properly adjusted.
The cockpit coaming is deep, and it's easy to hook the back of the nylon spray deck over the rim and stretch it over the fore end of the cockpit.
First impression is one of stability, with the willingness to twitch on command but just as willing to docilely wait under the paddler for the first application of paddle power. Even with plenty of back and forth lunging, there's no impression of a cantering motion, even with the fine ends. With a couple of easy strokes, it's apparent that this is a well-mannered craft. The boat tracks adequately without rudder or skeg. Yet a little knee lift will trigger the start of a gentle arc or you can put it up on the full midships sections and briskly pivot it. Small waves don't knock the flared bow about, and minor weight shifts set the boat up for working into light winds off the bow quarters. While the boat behaved well with the wind off the stern quarters, you might feel more comfortable with a skeg.
The modified West Greenland design proved dry in a small chop and light breezes, typical of what you might run into during a day trip or casual weekend expedition. The hull didn't dig its bow into one to 2 foot long swells, and had enough lift in the flaring bows to keep most of the water where it belongs. With a 6-ft, 1-inch, 195 pound paddler the ride was comfortable with only an occasional slop working up over the gunwales. With 60 pounds less in the cockpit the boat rode like a seagull.
Without putting a stopwatch on it, speed seems good for a 14-foot overall hull, with little tendency to squat under wide-arm power strokes getting it up to speed. Once moving it is easy to maintain speed --either with contemporary spoon blades or with narrow traditional Eskimo blades. It doesn't have an immense glide once you lower your paddle to the coaming, but it is certainly in the mid-range of the shorter touring boats. It holds its balance well in a glide, with only a mannered tendency to slip into an arcing turn.
The hull moves through the water cleanly, with little noise and splash. That translates into a fairly efficient design, and one that doesn't waste a lot of paddle effort in kicking the water around. The wake, too, is clean, with the kind of clean exit one expects from the fine ends of a fiberglass hull.
Initial stability, when you first board or when you're bobbing in wavelets, is good, and there is no sensation of balancing on a wire. However, the Victoria is willing to cant over under the thrust of a knee and does so with a steadily increasing resistance. Once up on the beam ends, the boat is comfortable riding on a brace and will obediently come back under the paddler. While the boat may be rolled, most paddlers will want hip clips and knee cups to lock themselves into position. Paddling in general will be improved by a little customizing, including foam padding for the paddler's knees. Since people come in different sizes, it makes more sense to do this yourself and make sure it fits.
The line of the deck makes it easy to invert the boat with one person at each end to rock the water out. There's no hidden pockets that will conceal a dollop of water. The watertight stern cargo compartment should make it possible to invert the boat in the water and drain much of the water out.
If off for a day of it, you're not going to carry a 5 gallon cube of water with you. Small bags will fit through the screw hatch, up to and including lightweight and compressible sleeping bags and the fabric parts of a small tent. Angles are such that poles will have to go forward through the cockpit, along with other bulkier items. A fabric cooler can slide forward, but few hard coolers will fit.
The Victoria is a light boat, and that's not a criticism but a description of how it fits its principal needs. Many paddlers would be loath to put a Victoria up on a cobble beach with any amount of shore break. Bang plates, or even duct tape, down the ends will preserve the hull from abrasion. The Victoria is a day tripper and occasional weekender, and as such is a good entry-level cruising kayak. It is easy to lift on or off a vehicle, it is easy to paddle, and with a price under $1000 with spray deck, front flotation bag and paddle, it's easy on the wallet. Besides that, it's cute.
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