Cobra Kayaks Mariner / Marauder Reviewby Drew Clark Cobra Kayaks invited Team Cobra and myself to come to Dana Point and test drive their new boat - the Mariner. I was surprised to hear of this boat's impending release as the overall market has been quiet this summer with no new boats since April brought us the modified Tarpon 160i with the tankwell. Cobra kept this under wraps, probably due in part to the less-than-stellar pre-release of last year's Pro Fisherman, a model that was not accepted by the market and was never put into full production.
The influences of Marketing and Sales Director Ric Hawthorne and the fishing community are evident in this new boat and the result is impressive. On paper it's a slick boat with an overall length of 14' 3" and a width of 31". This puts the Mariner in that class of boats aiming to be the all-around fishing kayak with the ability to work over longer distances and fish well in tighter quarters such as submerged structure (jetties, flooded trees, docks...). Another success for Cobra is reducing the hull depth and slimming down the face of the boat that will do battle with winds. A 12" hull depth leaves us room for storage down below but doesn't force the boat up into the breeze and take us off track or make the race home harder with a headwind. In fact, paddling into a 6 knot headwind yielded a consistant speed of 3.5Mph with the ability to sprint up to 5.5Mph. Those numbers are impressive but for fun we raced with that wind and achieved results over 6Mph. Chop broke under the hull and was pushed away with enough angle and force to keep us dry. Hull slap was a bare, bare minimum, almost non-existant, and there was so much freeboard that drifting sideways with the driftchute did not yield any splashing over the side. The trademark Cobra nose point appears here again, equally great for splitting headwinds and stabbing yourself in the calf as you drag it up the beach. Striking cobra, indeed.
The boats we demo'd weighed between 52 and 55#. The 52# boats were the new production line model and the weight is stabilized there. This is good for a boat of this length with the stability we want. And speaking of stability - this is a boat you can stand on. The primary stability was fantastic and never once did it feel tippy, whether in the surf or paddling over 5' swells near the reefs of Dana Point. Check out these sexy lines...
There are so many hatches on this kayak I'm wondering why Cobra didn't just put a hinge in the mold and make the whole top removable. It will be virtually impossible to lose something inside this boat. The large rectangle hatch in the center was a breeze for storing and removing 7'6" rods and rumors of a custom sized fish bag for the A hatch up front are great motivators for those who with to run off to wet launches in search of big fish. Once again - planning shows up for this kayak. Personally, I wish someone would invent a better dog (lever) system for these hatches. The 6 dog center hatch and the amazing 7 dogs on the A hatch are painfully time consuming for the ADD riddled paddler writing this review. He should probably just get over it. The rear-most circle hatch is a great idea. Inside is the 10" bucket that keeps things up off the bottom and dry...things like batteries, for example. I imagine we'll see a lot of battery hatches there with wiring inside the boat to waterproof fittings for bait tanks. Todd Groessel and I talked about this on the water some. For those going without the electronics this is a great place to store keys, wallets and other things you'd rather not see wet or slowly sinking to the bottom.
Speaking of bottoms (these segues are awesome!) check out the hull of this kayak (and check out Ed Whited!)
A deep keel with loads of rocker made the paddling experience what it was. Fast and stable. We tracked well and noticed a fair amount of keel still up out of the water in the back end - this is a good thing. For one reason it keeps the tankwell dry and when we add a bait tank with approximately 35# of water it will still be a boat that tracks well and carves through the chop.
As with all things, there are downsides. Luckily for this boat they are small and few. Surfing the kayak in on the small waves we had that day revealed that the Mariner does like to surfcock (turn sideways). This can be compensated for and even overcome with lots of practice but the tendency still remains. If it's any consolation to Cobra it's that we've never seen a kayak as fishy as this that does surf well. It seems most fishing kayaks will pearl or cock, a small trade off considering. The other issue I had was the rear flushmounts located behind the seat. They are quite close in and I couldn't store rods there without banging them with my elbows on most strokes. The trolling mounts up front were also close in but they do allow for a nice slow troll with an abbreviated stroke. Those two flushmount rod holders in the far rear are actually eaily reached and, if turned forwards, would provide excellent storage for gaffs and billy clubs. Facing away they can be used for trolling positions or rod storage.
The Cobra Kayaks Mariner is a fun boat with a nice flat deck layout that will provide many an angler a great fishing platform. This boat will be popular and is worthy of consideration for any kayak angler to be or those looking for an upgrade. View all the pictures from this day and the first day of Mariners in action here: http://www.plasticnavy.com/gallery/mariner/ |
