REVIEW : Little Wing

October-November 2005

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by Adam Bolonsky

Little Wing has a unique wasp - shaped hull which is a real eye - catcher.

Warren Lightcraft’s Little Wing is a 32- pound kayak designed and custom built to order in carbon fiber from a shop in Salem, Massachusetts. This wasp-shaped kayak is unique among current kayak designs, incorporating into a relatively short hull (16’3”) a long list of the best qualities of the nearly half-dozen kayak types. In my test paddle, with conditions that ranged from flat calm to deep swell and light wind, Little Wing proved itself quick, nimble and remarkably light. It has deep reserves of secondary stability and is relatively easy to roll.

The unique design has fore and aft wings, a pronounced rear ‘ log’ keel, and far-forward skeg opening. This allows for a typical racing kayak’s narrow width at the waterline (17.8”) and cockpit (20”) and a rounded keel, but also a beginner boat’s width in two unique areas—the wings, fore and aft, where the kayak swells to 24” wide. These wings are the design’s most notable departure from standard kayak design—that is, until you notice the transom’s classic racing sailboat outline and the near vertical bow.

The result of these design features, I found, is a unique combination of short length, stability, maneuverability and speed. This is the fastest kayak I have paddled of this length, and yet its speed had less to do with the kayak’s weight than with its design. Although I was not able to entirely leave behind the two 17-foot traditionally-shaped kayaks on the water with me that day (an Impex Currituck and Wilderness Systems Tempest 170), I was able to open up a sizable lead over them with just a minute’s sprinting.

This combination of the best qualities of numerous kayak types runs deep. Given its fluctuations in width and depth, Little Wing’s cargo capacity manages to rival that of ocean-going expedition kayaks even though it is shorter than most by at least two feet.

Little Wing’s cockpit is larger than that of the narrow ocean cockpits I’ve grown used to, so exits and entries were quick and easy. Intermediate or less-limber paddlers will appreciate Little Wing’s ease of exit and entry, both at the put-in and come time to execute a wet-exit and re-entry after a capsize or failed roll.

In keeping with the practice of carefully designed ocean-going kayaks built to maintain control in steep chop, large waves, high winds and heavy seas, Little Wing does sacrifice some of the illusory comforts of initial stability in favor of secondary. So Little Wing may feel rather tender to beginners, but when leaned aggressively, she settled onto her wings, holding me securely upright during a series of low-brace turns, bow-rudders, hip-locks, carved turns and knee-hangs.

As befits the vastly improved state of seat design these days, Little Wing’s seat (by KajakSport) is deeply contoured at the butt cheeks, so that it both lifted and supported my hips, thighs and knees. The so-called requisite pleasure pod, located near the seat’s front lip, did much to lift my perineum and pelvic floor off their pressure points, making it easier for me to splay my knees and thighs while rolling and bracing.

Fit and finish, from inner seams to carbon matting to watertight bulkheads (also carbon) were clean, smooth and tight, reflecting skilled layup and careful vacuum bagging.

After numerous rolls and rescues I found a bit of water had leaked around the hatch covers into the fore and aft compartments. But the designer tells me the leakage was due to the hatches’ compression straps not being sufficiently tight, and added that, since each hull is custom-made, a Little Wing can be built with standard KajakSport hatches for paddlers who don’t want to worry that they have set their hatches sufficiently tight.

A quibble I had is that the skeg-slider is located inside the cockpit rather than along the outside gunwale, so dropping the skeg required opening the spray skirt and reaching down past my right thigh to find the slider. And I needed that skeg, as tracking was too squirrelly otherwise. When I questioned the designer, he explained that they offer the option of mounting the skeg control outside the cockpit. He also said that the skeg is meant to be used most of the time, much as that of other highly maneuverable kayaks such as surf boats, except when messing around in shallow water.

Among the remarkable things about Little Wing is, of course, its weight. This kayak is so very light that the hull seems to float in air when lifted and carried. And this was a joy as I so often find myself lugging composite or rotomolded kayaks down the steep berms of my home state. I picked Little Wing up by its cockpit and, distracted by a friend on the beach, had to double-check that I had, in fact, lifted something. I then essentially guided the boat down through the air to the beach, as if the kayak were already floating. Replacing it onto my roof rack was just as easy.

And the craft also has a series of snazzy design coups—not only is Little Wing’s hull-to-deck joint visually seamless (it lacks the standard composite kayak’s heavy sheer-line tape strip and stripe) but its curves, especially those of its sheer line, flow intoxicatingly from the high, canoe-like bow down to the low and sleek aft deck plane.

This boat is a beauty. Whether its unconventional shape catches on is a matter of debate, but for the money (significant), it offers an amazingly light kayak that combines good speed with short length, high secondary stability, and whitewater maneuverability. You should consider a test paddle of Little Wing. Word is they already have a dealer in BC.

Little Wing settled onto her wings, holding me securely upright during a series of low-brace turns, bow-rudders, hip-locks, carved turns and knee-hangs.

Construction: Carbon Fiber, Epoxy Resin, Marine Foam Core

Overall Length: 16’ 3”

Weight: 32 lbs.

Maximum Beam: 24”

Beam at Cockpit: 20”

Waterline Length: 15’ 9”

Waterline Beam: 17.8

For more on Little Wing, see www.warrenlightcraft.com.

© Text: Adam Bolonsky. Photos: Adam Bolonsky and Ted Warren. For more on Little Wing, see www.warrenlightcraft.com.

© Text and photos by Adam Bolonsky. He’s a native New England sea kayaking instructor and sea kayak fishing guide based in Gloucester, Massachusetts.