Review of RM P&H Capella 160

I purchased a used P&H Capella 160 kayak, as an extra for guests, then decided to sell it again - with no guests in sight because of COVID-19. Nevertheless, I wish to review it since it was a respectable kayak. 

I found no serial number and don’t know its age. The earliest Capella 160 versions had just two hatches, with squarish hatch covers. This one is newer and has three round/oval hatch covers. These are available from Kayak Sport if replacement is needed. By now, P&H has been sold to Pyranha and the entire Capella line (with its variety of dissimilar models) has been discontinued. 

Specifications:

• Length: 16' 4"

• Width: 22”

• Bow, Stern, and Day hatches
  

• Weight: 51 lbs

• Cockpit: 31.5" x 17"

• Rope Skeg (reasonably easy to work on)

• Kayaker weight range: 110-232 lbs (from P&H 2007 brochure)

• 3 layer polyethylene construction

The Kayaker weight range above looks too generous on the upper end. Anyone over ~200 pounds might find it overly snug.

This is the first rotomolded kayak I have purchased ... among many composites and one ABS plastic boat. I trusted that the 3 layer polyethylene construction made it stiffer, faster, and perhaps more durable than a single layer. I purchased this used and immediately corrected some issues:

• the skeg was not seated properly and was not happy to be fully retracted

• the seat padding was torn loose

• spiders etc. had seized occupation

Now the boat was in decent shape and was ready to go, but only after I purchased a skirt.

The kayak fits OK. The stout thigh braces are bolted in, but can be moved to accommodate your leg length. However, after trying several locations I still found the thigh braces to be uncomfortable. I removed them but saved them for later replacement if wanted.

The Capella 160 has the same seat as my P&H Classic Cetus. This seat back works for me. Most kayak seat backs require that I modify them. My lower back is a bit crooked from a long-ago ski accident, so it’s picky. I need lower back support, but without compromising my amusing layback roll.

This kayak has a good reputation, albeit not exciting. I was eager for a test ride or two. The Capella 160 evolved through various versions, even one that a reviewer claimed would weathercock so badly that the skeg could not fully compensate. I didn’t want that! As a rotomolded kayak it would be expected to be slower than an equivalent composite version. I must live with that as something I already knew (‘caveat emptor’ – or does that mean ‘the cave is empty’?).

The hull has little rocker, but is raked at the bow lessening its water length. I wouldn’t approach hull speed anyway, even if going downhill. The cockpit is quite roomy for entry/exit, but holds me firmly enough. The cockpit opening is a bit larger than in my Classic P&H Cetus, which is actually a longer boat overall, at 17’ 11”. The deck rigging is as expected for a sea kayak. My guess is that the kayak is a little heavier than the specified 51 pounds, perhaps the hatch covers etc. were not included. The day hatch is accessible when underway and has a snap-on hatch so its closure is obvious by feel. Some newer kayaks have a fourth ‘glove box’ hatch just fore the cockpit. I find these to be slightly in my way for a self rescue when reinserting my legs, but otherwise find them convenient.The Capella 160 has no fourth hatch, while my Cetus does.

The kayak came with a Lendal paddle, probably a carbon shaft and fiberglass blades – no model name on the paddle, only the Lendal name. The paddle had interesting aspects:

• crank shaft

• 4-piece paddle with three Lendal Paddlok ferrules

but most interesting

• both blades were left handed.

Asymmetrical blades are like gloves and should be mirror images of each other. However the blades were rather large and symmetrical enough other than the tips, so I used my Werner Shuna blades as templates and cut the blades to be properly asymmetrical. It ended up fine and sturdy. The Paddlok mechanism is both simple and effective. However, since I don’t particularly like crank shaft paddles, I then sold this 'Lendal Shuna' paddle as a separate item.

Test Run #1

This 8.66 nmi. run was in light wind with many power boat waves in the first two nautical miles. I found that the kayak weathercocked, but the skeg easily tuned this out. The Capella handles well yet seemed quite average to me, neither fast nor slow. The relatively rockerless hull would still turn OK with appropriate edging.

Upon finishing the test run, I found too much water in the rear hatch, yet none in the bow or day hatches. Did I not seal the rear hatch properly? The rear cover is rather hard to close, so perhaps I was not careful enough. Were the hatch cover well sealed, my guess would be a skeg box leak. So I’ll investigate further at the next test run.

In preparation for that next test run, I moved the seat back slightly to see whether this would diminish the weathercocking. The seat is movable with 3 sets of mounting holes, so I was able to move the seat back without savaging the kayak cockpit. The nuts on the bolts were very hard to get at and therefore difficult to remove – yet I triumphed. Many kayak factories hire tiny (but strong) elves for construction tasks in such tight spaces. Presumably P&H hires leprechauns from Ireland.

Test Run #2

I guess the salient questions are:

• does the rear hatch really leak?

• did moving the seat toward the stern lessen the weathercocking?

This run took the same route as Test Run #1. Upon completion, none of the hatches had leaked – hooray for that! The wind was quite light, so it was a bit difficult to assess the weathercocking. Nevertheless, I claim that moving the seat a bit to the stern improved matters. Certainly, it was not worse.

I kept a leisurely pace of 2.7 kt. With a similar lack of effort, my Cetus does 2.9 kt. The Capella 160 wants to track and requires overt effort to turn – again compared to the Cetus.

As mentioned earlier, removing the thigh braces proved more comfortable, but leaving them in place probably would have helped rolling.They will go to the next buyer. Oops ... now it's gone.