Jackson is a four-time world champion in freestyle kayaking, and multiple-time Olympian. His newest passion project, though, is reinventing the kayak as the perfect fishing vessel. What he came up with was the Apex Watercraft Tyr on Kickstarter, and to say the least, were in love.
It took a village, as they say: the Tyr was designed by Jackson with the help of legendary stand-up paddleboarder Bob Blair and Russ Emanis, who ran the composites program at Lockheed Martin for the F-22 jet. The end result: a beautiful piece of kayaking engineering. Sort of the Porsche of fishing kayaks, if you will.
The entire kayak, stem to stern, is made from carbon fiberso it comes in at only 40 pounds. Even the foot braces are made from the stuff.
Stability is key to the kayak, as the vision is to be able to both sit in it and fish and stand up in it to fish. Its designed so you can easily and quickly switch between the two.
The hill of the kayak has a lifting bow, which allows for low drag in the waterletting you glide to your destination. With the open transom, water can run out of the boat without collecting in the deck, so you wont be weighed down as you haul it.
In terms of specs, youre getting almost 13 feet in length, 36 inches wide and 18 inches high. It should be more than able to fit most guys. (The only thing we can think thats missing is a designated cooler.)
When it comes to pricing, well, you better act fast. Early adopter special pledge for this sleigh is $8,250about 20% off the ostensible MSRP, which will be $10,999. (You also get a necklace, cap, and V-neck tee with your pledge.)
A steep price for some, perhaps. But if you ask us, with a summer of social distancing here, theres no better time to fish in the Porsche of fishing kayaks.