Riot Brittany 16.5

Nice design, solid construction – I have owned this Kayak for two years and am overall very impressed by its build, performance and comfort. The build quality is good, I have not had any problems with breakages or parts being easily damaged. At close to 30kg the Brittany is no light weight however, it is very well balanced and can be put on the roof of my 4wd with one person… Read more

and carried a reasonable distance to the water. The hatches could do a better job of keeping water out of the roomy compartments. I generally have to sponge out about 1L of water from the stern compartment with only a small amount in the bow and day hatch. The day hatch position is awkward to reach with some yoga style twisting required. In choppy seas I find it unusable. I find it comfortable and often paddle 20km without any discomfort although I can see how people with different body shapes may find it uncomfortable.

I find that people not experienced with sea kayaks do find the stability initially on the unstable side but after a bit of paddling they come to grips with the kayaks handling. The Brittany is easy to roll, I managed to teach myself how to roll in a very short time with what I am certain is a very poor technique!

My kayak came with a skeg and rudder. The kayak tracks straight without the skeg or rudder in the water however, in windy conditions it has a tendency to weathercock into the wind. Dropping the skeg and/or rudder prevents this and will keep the kayak tracking true even in a following sea. The rudder feels quite heavy and the pedals don’t quite adjust far enough backwards for my liking (I’m 5ft 11”). Only about 1/3 of the rudder actually sits in the water and one might feel this is not enough to manoeuvre the kayak efficiently. I find it more than adequate as I only use it for tracking straight. For normal paddling or paddling in surf I leave it out of the water and use a combination of paddle strokes and edging to turn tightly.

This kayak handles waves and swell well. I do the majority of my paddling off the coast where the swells are often 1-1.5m, the stability and manoeuvrability gives me a lot of confidence. I am yet to master riding surf (my lack of experience and not the kayak) but it seems like the kayak would perform well. I am able to track down the waves, mostly, and can bail sideways into the white water without rolling.

Overall I am satisfied with my investment in the Brittany. I feel it will last many years and when it does come time to upgrade I will most likely still keep the Brittany as my second kayak.

Riot Brittany 16.5 - better suited to an intermediate paddler looking for a poly kayak able to handl – Intermediate - great boat to improve skills, needs care with edging, good primary but sensitive secondary stability due boxy hull cross section & hard round chimes, quickly tipped if edged too far. Pros - good speed, clean lines shed water, easy turning, both skeg & rudder, self rescue straps, paddle rest, security bar, water tight bulk heads. … Read more

Cons - no instructions, narrowish beam, heavy material, rudder mechanism, fiddy seat, hit & miss quality control.

Admirable – A tough but heavy kayak. Nice positive pitch going down waves, and getting much less over bow splash. Painful backrest hip spacers, just take them out for instant relief. Flimsy ruddy, but does the job. Love the skeg in cross wind waves and surfing,, very nice. Multi-bump-section seat, uncomfortable over time, think ill just rip that out too,… Read more

plain flat seat is always best for myself.

Under deck cargo net is a PITA, tangles on toes, get rid of it.

Riot Brittany 16.5 Sea Kayak Review by Paul Jurak- Kayakcameraman – Riot Brittany 16.5 Sea Kayak Review by Paul Jurak- Kayakcameraman. The Riot Brittany was my first kayak and still to this date and I paddle it almost every day on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. I can definitely say that I have put the ‘Brittany’ through its paces and a true durability test. The majority of my paddling is either on lakes,… Read more

creeks, estuaries or flat water paddling with the odd few ocean paddles. During this time the Riot Brittany has taken me to the waterways of the Murray, Tuross Lakes, Merimbula, Pambula, Broulee, Jervis Bay, Jindabyne, Newcastle, Crescent Head, South West Rocks, Sawtell and Coffs Harbour, just to name a few places.

For me the Riot Brittany has been an extremely durable and reliable kayak. It is constantly mounted on the roof of my Subaru and has endured extreme temperatures from minus 8 conditions in the winter to 42 degrees temps in the summer. One of the things that I do to protect the cockpit is to put a cover on which eliminates foreign matter entering as well as reducing wind drag as I’m driving. Apart from a slight fade in colour, the kayak is still in good condition considering the elements. All of the safety lines, hatch covers and rudder ropes are still in very good condition. You will be able to see its condition from photos on my blog and facebook & website ‘kayakcameraman.’

On an average I spend two to three hours daily sitting in the seat of the Riot Brittany. I have found the seat extremely comfortable. The only thing that is showing heavy signs of wear and tear is on the back rest which is understandable due to the overall amount of usage and the age of the kayak. This is the original seat and has not been upgraded.

My experiences vary, some days I just float along enjoying the scenery and other times I may decide to put a bit more effort in and go for an expression session. Either way the Brittany satisfies my needs.

One negative is the adjustment system for the pedals on the Riot Brittany. They seem to slip and I find myself constantly having to adjust them. I also find the responsiveness from the pedals to the rudder a tad spongy and not as responsive as I would like. But keep in mind that I am probably using the pedals and rudder more than most as I photograph everyday and while I am on the water I am constantly using the pedals to position the kayak in best spot to capture the shot. Apart from that, the tension springs, guide slides, pedals, rudder components and the lanyon ropes which engage and raise the rubber are still in good working order.

I purchased the Riot Brittany Kayak for myself and also another so either of my sons would be able to paddle with me as well. I would recommend this kayak for a beginner to the experienced paddler.

C-Kayak Pro Team Member

Great fun, fast, good value, love it, but some bad engineering in it – This is a review fort he Brittany 16.5 and the Brittany 16.5 Thermo. I have both and paddled them for he past 6 months in different conditions. 1. Differences between the Brittany 16-5 and the Brittany 16-5 Thermo: -------------------------------------- A: weight: The Thermo is some 9 kg lighter than the standard, which makes a very notable… Read more

difference in handling it out of the water. It is also a bit faster

B: material: The Thermo is made of a different and thinner material. It seems less robust and for white water (with rocks) conditions I take the standard Brittany. Having said that the Thermo is not flimsy, if you want to do sea kayaking (and this is a sea kayak after all) you will find both strong enough for what an ocean can throw at them.

C: seat: The Thermo has a different, more comfortable back rest (see details further down). The standard’s seat however can be pushed back further that that of the thermo.

D: rudder mounting: The Thermo uses an aluminium bracket

E: my recommendation:

Why did I buy the two versions?: I kayak with my girl friend and also on my own or with friends. I am faster than my girlfriend, so she gets the thermo and I the standard (and the she light carbon paddle, while I take the cheaper aluminium one). This equalises our speeds nicely.

When I am out without her I take the thermo.

If you’re after one kayak only then I would go for the thermo. It’s more expensive but you’ll love the lower weight and the higher speed.

2. The pros:

--------------

I found them good value. They are fast and offer more than enough space for an average size man like myself (71kg, 177cm). They keep a straight line very well and the retractable skeg (goes up and down with a flick of a slider next to the cockpit) makes them track even better (which slightly increases speed).

They both handle very nicely in the ocean; it’s a joy manoeuvring them through the waves.

3. The problems:

--------------------

A: The rudder paddles: As others have commented before the bungees that act as the rudder paddles’ return spring make a u-turn through a hole in the sliders. This is a completely inacceptable design. It creates so much friction that you have no feeling at all for the rudder pressure. When I inspected the hole I found that (after 3 hours of use) it had already elongated to twice the size. The bungee chord was also chafed. That bungee should be looped back through a pulley or at least an elbow.

But there is a simple solution: Remove the bungees. A rudder on a kayak does not need a return spring mechanism, just as the tiller on a boat does not need one. The only problem is that the paddles can slide backward when your feet are not on them. So before you enter the kayak make sure they are pushed forward (that’s easier that doing it when you are in already). Once you’re in the kayak it’s not a problem because your feet are against the paddles anyway.

B: The rudder

The rudder is about 80% to 90% out of the water. It simply is mounted too high. In calm water that is not a problem. But with the waves up you find that the rudder is often not effective enough (and often it is not touching the water at all). I once had the whole boat going sideways while surfing down a wave. No rudder action at all.

I will try to make a modified bracket for the thermo to lower the rudder and to adjust its angle. Problem is that I can’t access its bolts inside the hull.

C: The rudder mounting on the Brittany 16.5 Thermo

The bracket holding the rudder is fixed to the stern with two bolts. The nuts are inside the hull. They are practically inaccessible and they turn with the bolts. This means you can not tighten the bolts properly.

D: The seats

The standard has an uncomfortable back rest if the seat is in the far back position. But most people will fit in well with the seat in a more forward position (and the back rest pulled forward also).

The Thermo has what Riot calls a floating back rest. It doesn’t work. I guess “floating” means it can move up to the point where an adjustable strap limits it (and prevents it from popping out of the seat altogether). In reality gravity keeps it down all the time.

I prefer to have it higher. So to keep it up I drilled two holes in the lower part of the backrest (the part that slots into the seat), and put two plastic bolts through them. So now the back can not slot all the way down any more. Works great, I am comfortable now.

E: The hatches

Some water enters when plunging into waves. Good value, nice handling, fun Rudder and rudder paddles design is poor, rudder ineffective in waves

Has had a few teething problems, Hull OK, rudder fittings poor – I like the look and the fit of the Riot Brittany. It is my first single sea kayak so my grounds for comparison and kayak knowledge are limited. Soon after purchase one of the bellcrank/levers on the rudder where the cable attaches broke with what seemed like a minimal force. This was replaced without hesitation under warranty. When a second one… Read more

broke I was supplied a replacement by the vendor but chose to make a "shed " version myself because the factory part seemed flimsy and I didn't want to have to deal with a rudderless paddle home after another breakage. I chose to fit some aftermarket rudder peddles with solid footpegs and toe rudder control pedals. When I removed the old ones I was disappoint to see the rails the factory pedals slid on had warped with the pressure of the shock-chord return spring on some unknown hot day. The pedal system was very poorly designed and would have needed replacement soon in any case. The return spring was a piece of shock-chord doing a 180 degree turn through a hole in the slider rail and would be chafed through very quickly. After a session of rolling practice I was alarmed at how much water was through all the hatches, Litres not drops. I discovered that all the bulkheads were leaking. Again vendor support was good and he offered to re-seal all the bulkheads for me but I chose to do it myself with materials supplied by the vendor. I have now got a boat I quite like, but really it shouldn't have taken so much to get it to that point. There are some fittings behind the seat that have rusted very badly despite the fact I was the boat with fresh water after every outing. I discussed this with the vendor but by this stage I was starting to accept that the fittings are just poorly chosen for a SEA kayak and rather than replacing them with the same item, which will only rust again, I will work out an alternative at some stage in the future. I think the kayak performs OK but because it is my first single I really can't comment in a comparative way. Cockpit fit and comfort, appearance. Vendor support has been good Rudder fittings poorly designed and broke easily, home made is significantly better. Bulkheads should not leak litres of water