An email from a customer who spent some time choosing between an Illusion or a Reflection.

His choice this time was the Illusion.

"OK.  So it turned out to be the Illusion.  You still gonna talk to me Reg?  Yeah, I love the Reflection, too, but I can only buy one. 

For now.  Thanks to all for taking the time and effort to enable my addiction.  It's going to be ready for pick up on Friday, right?  (Kidding)  

I've been thinking and came up with a sound bite. Sterlings Kayaks........The shape skis of the kayak industry.    OK.  Corny and maybe some of your paddlers don't know that we were locked for years in the tyranny of traditional skis (short ski era barely counted and didn't contribute anything meaningful).  We have, likewise, been limited by designs that defined what was assumed as possible.  No more.   

So if not this Friday the next?  (Really kidding)   You know what's interesting?  When I told some folks that I was planning to buy a boat from you at retail they couldn't understand it.  "Jon's lost his mind.  He's paying retail".  I have never paid retail and always been able to prodeal what I needed.   It was a hurdle for me to get past  but I get it and they don't.  The only guy who doesn't question my sanity is my trip partner, Dave, who paddled the Grand Illusion at Point Defiance.  He gets it and I will too, like next Friday?  Oh.  That's right.  It will take longer than that.................Damn!........Marsha, don't mock my addiction.......   Seriously folks, really looking forward to joining the family.  I think I can help spread the word.   Jon " 

Welcome to our family Jon............we appreciate the analogy to the ski industry breaking into a new era in ski design and performance, a similar breakthrough is our goal in designing our kayaks for pure performance.

My name is Mike Zeppegno.  I am an ACA Open Coastal Kayak Instructor.  I live in Humboldt County which is on the north coast of CA.  Our coast line provides a wonderful assortment of places to paddle.  From the rugged coastline with numerous sea stacks, challenging rock gardens and slots, and some good surf spots.  I am a member of the Explore North Coast Kayak Club.    Our group paddles 12 months out of the year in often very interesting conditions. 

I have been paddling a roto-molded Tempest 165 which was a proto-type for the production unit Wilderness Systems introduced some years ago.  My 165 has a great deal more rocker than the production 165. In the fall of 2007 I started my search for another boat.  I wanted something that was lighter, faster, more maneuverable, and paddled well in big water.  I am 5’10” tall and weigh 155lbs.I looked at a number of boats at the 2007 West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium, and continued my search through September of 2008.  A sample of some of the boats I tried include the Avocet, Avocet LV, Montauk, Romany, Romany LV, NordKapp LV, every model of the Current Design line I could fit into, and a Chatham 17.  I also tried the Xplore and Xcite from TideRace.

I liked a number of the boats I tried particularly the LV models.  However, as much as I enjoyed a few of these boats I felt that they were not that much of an improvement over what I currently had.  If I was going to put out the money for a new fiber glass boat I wanted something that I could get really excited about.  I did find the NorkKapp LV was the closest thing to what I was looking for.  The surfing and maneuverability were excellent, but, I did feel the cockpit was too big for me. I also found the rear of the cockpit combing prevented me from laying out on the back deck while rolling.  While it was a finely constructed kayak I wanted a boat that was lighter than 49lbs.

In September I had the opportunity to paddle the new Illusion that had been designed by Sterling Donalson, fined tuned from extensive testing by George Gronseth, Reg Lake and numerous other top quality N.W. paddlers.  My first test paddle was off of a steep beach at high tide near the Trinidad Head.  The surf zone was incredibly busy with rebounding waves crashing off the Head, large interval swells and dumping waves.  All of this combined with a rip that was running parallel with the beach.  At the initial launch I knew immediately this was the boat for me. On this day the surf had a lot of punch and I had water coming at me in three different directions.  The Illusion handled this with ease.  (Continued below)

 I got surfed backwards, spun 270 degrees and 180 degrees several times.  I was able to climb over incoming waves like no other boat I had ever experienced.  In most other kayaks I would have been overturned while trying to break out. The Illusion with just a couple of paddle strokes climbed over the tops of the incoming breakers.  It turned out to be the wildest surf zone paddling I had ever experienced in a boat I was not familiar with.  Amazingly the boat was absolutely rock solid.  The next day I went to a surf spot and found that the Illusion was an incredible boat to surf waves.  It has great hull speed to get on a wave, turns on a dime, and holds its position on a wave to surf in a straight line.

When I got home I called Sterling and ordered a new Illusion.  It is important to point out that Sterling customizes the boat to your physical dimensions.  In my case he lowered the deck by 1 inch, moved the insets for some of the deck mountings to accommodate my size 11 booties, and moved the bulk head forward to give me the leg length I needed.  None of this customization cost anything extra.  I did pay an additional $200 to have Sterling use his infusion process for constructing my boat.  By selecting this option I got a stronger boat that is 5lbs lighter than the standard fiber glass layup.

I have now had the boat for six months and still get those “aha” moments as I discover something new about the performance of the Illusion.  I have come to realize what a great job Sterling have done with the design of this boat.  The cockpit fits me really well, and is very comfortable with its custom foam seat.  The boat design places my center of gravity in a very low position in relation to the water line.  In my opinion being low in the water improves the performance of the boat, and has resulted in making me a better paddler.  This low center of gravity along with the rocker makes for an incredibly maneuverable craft.

I have found that it is a great rock garden boat as it holds an edge so well and allows you to maneuver effectively in tight quarters.  Your stroke proficiency will improve with this boat.  Since the boat holds an edge so well it turns 360 degrees in a very tight radius.  The Illusion has a great deal of rocker.  One of my students said my boat looked like a potato chip. .  One would think that because of the rocker this boat would not track well.  Big surprise, it tracks extremely well.  I have had it out in 20kt winds with large trailing seas and it handled the conditions beautifully.  A couple of other nice things about this boat are the Sea Dog hatches and foot braces.  After spending time in the surf or practicing rolls I have yet to have any water get in the hatches.  The foot braces are great as you can adjust the length while under way.  I find this convenient on longer paddles.

If you are looking for a boat that is stable, offers great performance in all environments, and is a pure joy to paddle this is it!!  Also the personal service you get from Sterling Donalson is another benefit of owning an Illusion. Mike Zeppegno Arcata, CA 707-826-7035

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