"The Pinguino was a lot of fun in wind and rough water. There are a lot of things to like: light-weight, 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).
"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)
Pinguino Sport: Choosing a Pinguino Sport: The Pinguino Sport's cockpit will fit a wide range of Adult size paddlers. Paddlers hoping to find a bit more space in the cockpit, compared to an average touring kayak, will be pleased. Paddlers with long legs and larger shoe sizes will be especially appreciative of the 13" deck height. Use her on open saltwater coastlines, bays, lakes, and meandering rivers. An excellent choice for fishing and photography. Though the Pinguino Sport is a recreational kayak at heart, she has the soul of a sea kayak, so don't be afraid to take her out in the surf (check out Canoe & Kayak's review of the Pinguino Sport as a surf boat). The Pinguino Sport's size also makes her an excellent choice for stowing on the deck of a larger boat for day paddling from a "mothership".
Our first recreational kayak design, the Pinguino Sport 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. It’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.
Design Features: The Pinguino offers our multi-chine hull design, to maximize efficiency and stability, with a raked stern and swede form shape, it is a unique design in the Pygmy line up. The Pinguino's shorter length and lightweight make cartopping and carrying to the water a cinch. The Pinguino accelerates quickly, and is nearly effortless to hold at cruising speeds. It tracks solidly, but thanks to its shorter length is quick to turn. The Pygmy four panel deck design, with recess rear cockpit, brings the sheer of the boat down and in, so even with a 25.5" beam, the Pinguino is still comfortable to paddle, even for those with a steeper paddle stroke. The standard cockpit opening for the Pinguino is 19"x36", and for those wanting to outfit the boat for more extreme paddling, hip pads and key hole knee braces are available. The Pinguino Sport can also be ordered with a 17"x33" cockpit opening for smaller paddlers.
A Fun Design for all Levels of Paddler: The Pinguino Sport took its maiden voyage at the 2008 West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium, where paddlers of all skill levels were able to give it a try. Feedback was excited and positive, it was obvious from the smiles that the Pinguino Sport was loved by everyone who paddled her. For those who like the high initial stability of the Pinguino Sport, but would like more room for touring, be sure to checkout the Pinguino 145.
Pinguino Sport Specs: Length…... 13’ Beam……. 25.5” Height…… 13” Weight…... 34lbs Cockpit….. 19”x36” *Initial stability……13.4 Carrying capacity (vol.cu.ft)……12.80 **Efficient Cruising Wetted Surface in sq. ft……16.70 Loaded waterline length……11.3' ***Top cruising speed……4.67 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 Sport Features: Hull type… Multi-chine Deck type… Pygmy multi-chine cut away deck with patented rear cockpit recess Best used for… Day paddling, Lake boating, Kayak fishing, Surf kayaking Paddler experience level… Beginner to Advanced Shoe size….Up to men’s 13 (depending on shoe and personal comfort) Cockpit size…19”x36" (also available with a standard touring cockpit opening of 17"x33")
* 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.
