"The Pinguino hits the mark dead-on, a recreational-style kayak for the home builder. It is perfectly suited for photography or bird watching and its stable behavior made it confidence inspiring, fun, and easy to paddle." (TW, 6'1", 180 lbs) Read More
"The Pinguino was a lot of fun in wind and rough water. There are a lot of things to like: lightweight, lively feel, good manners in a blow. It also adapts well to lazing about on a calm day and tending to camera or fishing pole." (TE, 6'1", 200 lb male) Read More
Pinguino 145, Our Best Selling Boat: With her introduction the Pinguino 145 quickly rocketed to the top of our boat line to become our best selling design. The Pinguino is a great choice for paddlers who want the quickness, lightweight, and joy of paddling a Pygmy, but prefer a roomier cockpit, and high initial stability. The Pinguino 145's larger cockpit and greater stability make it a perfect choice for fishing, photography, bird watching, or a relaxing day on the water. Pinguino is Spanish for Penguin and, like the penguin, the Pinguino's short and broad appearance belies its grace, quickness and agility on the water.
A Great Light Touring Kayak:A beautiful, fair, multi-chine hull minimizes her wetted surface and maximizes her speed. The Pinguino 145’s big advantage is the fact she has less wetted surface and less frictional drag than longer boats. For example, despite the fact that the Pinguino 145 is two-and-a-half inches wider and much more stable than the Arctic Tern 17, she has 9.8% less wetted surface and frictional drag, meaning it takes 9.8% less effort to paddle at cruising speeds. She, like the Arctic Tern 14 & Pinguino 145 4PD, is a great choice for anyone who routinely paddles with someone stronger than they are.
Owner and designer, John Lockwood, paddled the Pinguino 145 along the Central BC Coast for two weeks and noted, “The Pinguino 145’s cruising speed advantage made it easier for me to keep up with Freya and Hannah, who are much stronger paddlers than I. My old body’s getting cranky and less flexible and I was much more comfortable with the Pinguino’s greater knee height and foot room. She was enormously more stable, very well behaved, and handled rough water really well. I felt more at ease and secure. I loved the boat.”
Stable, Comfortable, and Well Mannered:She’s more stable with more knee height and foot room than any of our other touring boats except the Borealis XL. She tracks solidly, but thanks to her shorter length is quick to turn. She lays over securely on edge and cuts a very rapid chine (leaned) turn. The Pygmy four panel deck design brings the sheer down, so even with her 25.5” beam, the Pinguino still allows comfortable low or high angle stroke. She has a large 19”x36” cockpit.
Fishing, Bird Watching, Photography:She’s a great boat for fishing (see video below), messing about, cruising rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and gunkholing the coast line. For smaller paddlers and people who like a snugger fit, be sure to checkout the Pinguino 145 4PD and the NEW Pinguino 150 Pro.
Pinguino 145 Specs: Length…… 14.5' Beam……. 25.5” Height…… 13” Weight…… 36 lbs. Cockpit……19”x36” *Initial stability……13.6 Carrying capacity (vol.cu.ft)……14.10 **Efficient Cruising Wetted Surface in sq. ft.……17.5 Loaded waterline length……12.5' ***Top cruising speed……4.91 mph Available as kit……yes Available as plans……no
*The transverse Metacenter, in inches, is a measure of a kayak's initial stability. A higher number is more stable. All single kayaks computed with same weight person.
**Efficient cruising is a function of low frictional drag and low wetted surface. Lower WS means faster (less effort) cruising speeds, here expressed in sq. ft. ***90% of theoretical hull speed (THS) in mph. A boat's theoretical hull speed is a function of square root of its loaded waterline length (LWL). at approximately 80% to 90% of its hull speed a kayak will start to produce a bow wake longer than its LWL and the effort required to continue acceleration rapidly increases
Pinguino 145 Features: Hull type… Multi-chine Deck type… Pygmy multi-chine cut away deck with patented rear cockpit recess Best used for… Day paddling, Kayak touring, Lake paddling, Photography, Kayak fishing, Surf kayaking, Rock gardens Paddler experience level… Beginner to advanced Shoe size… Up to men’s 13 (depending on shoe and personal comfort) Cockpit size…19”x36"
* We usually ship "Medium" hardener with our kits (good for temperatures ranging from 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit). You may order "Slow" for hot climates (75-95 degrees Fahrenheit) or "Fast" for cold climates (35-55 degrees Fahrenheit) upon request. Read the System Three Epoxy Book to help select the appropriate epoxy and hardener for you. If you would like a copy of the Epoxy Book, click here to download. We also stock System Three’s Silver Tip Epoxy and offer this as an option in our boat kits for an additional charge. For Silvertip epoxy the slow hardener is good for temperatures warmer than 65 and the fast is best for temperatures cooler than 65. Note: Silver Tip Resin can only ship via Ground Service and is not eligible for shipments to Alaska.
