With special thanks to Goo Vogt I was fortunate to demo the new Feathercraft BayLee I LW packraft. The BayLees proof to be good competition for Alpacka and NRS boats and may provide more incentive for further innovation in the ever expanding packraft market. I personally float in an Alpacka Yak that I bought in 2003. Even though I haven't tested the BayLee I LW in any class 3 or 4 water, I believe it is a great whitewater boat. Below is what I found to be the pros and cons of the Feathercraft BayLee I LW. (Each comment refers to the picture above unless noted.)
Feathercraft's BayLee I LW (left) is uniformly shaped like a kayak which might make it a better whitewater boat. The yellow Alpacka Yak 2003 model (right) is wider at the stern than the bow and shorter than the BayLee I LW which is Feathercraft's smallest packraft. The closest Alpacka boat comparable to the BayLee I LW in length is the Alpacka Llama. Comparing the weight of the Bay Lee I LW with the Llama, the Llama wins easily. Alpacka's Llama has 4.5 lbs while the BayLee I LW has 7.5 pounds (both boats incl. spray skirt). Cause for the weight difference is probably the much tougher fabric used by Feathercraft for floor and tubes.
The Feathercraft (right) comes up higher in the bow and stern compared to the Alpacka Yak 2009 model (left). The Feathercraft also has bigger tubes for more buoyancy.
Feathercraft BayLee I LW (blue boat) and Alpacka Yak 2009 model (red boat).
The stern of the BayLee I LW (above) has a wider shape. Also, see the two inflation valves for the two chambers. Having the two air chambers certainly also makes for a tougher boat. The valves Feathercraft uses, even though they prevent lots of moisture from entering the chambers they are heavier than the open air intakes Alpacka uses. Also, due to the smaller air-intake the BayLee I LW takes longer to blow up with an inflation bag.
The stern of the Alpacka is more arrow-shaped compared to the Feathercraft.
Feathercraft did a superb job in designing a simple seat that is actually super comfortable. If you ever sat in an Alpacka for more than an hour you know what I am talking about. The reason for comfort is the flat pillow design of the BayLee I LW. The seat is also easier to exchange than the Alpacka's due to a simple attachment system (see picture below).
Feathercraft's easy solution to an exchangeable seat.
Unfortunately, Feathercraft's backrest is not satisfactory. The backrest is attached to straps and the attachment points (see thumb above) break easily when entering the raft. The most serious issue however is that the straps create potential for foot entrapment. Aplacka's solution to the backrest is both safer and more elegant. Since the Feathercraft is generally longer, Feathercraft could move the seat more towards the middle of the boat for even better white water abilities.
Feathercraft uses straps to adjust the backrest. The straps however, create high potential for foot entrapment particularly when having to perform a wet exit.
Above is Feathercraft's (black valve) superior mouth valve. If you have a boat like me that Alpacka had made by Feathercraft back in 2003/4 (yes, Feathercraft initially built packrafts for Alpacka) you have probably gotten to appreciate the fact that these valves are less likely to leak. The reason is that they are flexible and you can bend them for blowing into the mouth piece. Above you can see that the valve nicely attaches to the boat fabric in form of a ring. Thus fabric and valve are easily bonded and stay that way because you can bend the valve as shown in the picture above.
Above is Alpacka's 2010 model valve (red valve). You can not bend it which is a problem. If you want to bring the valve to your mouth since it is not flexible in itself you have to pull the valve away from the boat which stresses the glue holding the valve and boat fabric together. As a result, Alpacka often has valves that leak at the attachment point (see arrow above). In other words, since you have to pull it away from the fabric to bring it to your mouth, the valve detaches from the boat fabric at the point of the arrow (above) and thus easily creates a leak.
Feathercraft did a nice job designing this simple spray skirt which actually holds up well against water coming in at your chest and back. Two bungee suspenders are attached to the spray skirt using velcro. Each of the two suspenders has a velcro patch to attach the front end of the bungee-suspender to the part of the sprayskirt that lays on your chest. The back of the suspenders is fixed to the spray skirt at the stern. There is just enough velcro to hold it and not too much to make it too hard to wet exit. Unfortunately, there is still water sitting in the middle of the spray skirt when paddling.
The spray skirt has a velcro exit on the right and a good quality zipper on the left that goes all the way to the bow. I found that the spray skirt could be a bit better attached to the boat. Sometimes packrafters grab the skirt when trying to hold on to their boat. River current and heavy loads can easily detach the skirt from the boat.
Feathercraft's skirt comes up high in the back.
The velcro on the right side of the sprayskirt is two sided. This can be pretty tough to get out of when doing your wet exit. Also the suspenders, even though they nicely keep the sprayskirt high on your torso, it's a bit more difficult to get out of once you are upside down in the water having to wet exit.
The velcro on the skirt's suspenders get stuck underneath the seat. This can create another foot entrapment and is troubling if you get back in you boat after a wet exit and can't find the suspenders to put back on.
Additional room for improvement with the BayLee I LW are the strap plates closest to the middle of the raft. Unfortunately, these strap plates (see arrow above) are exactly attached where a paddler's hand may come closest to the tubes of the raft. When I first used the raft I tore up my finger nails pretty well. If these strap plates could be moved further towards the bow, they could all be used for securing the load.
Spray skirt of the Alpacka Yak 2009 model tied up underneath the load.
Spary skirt of the Feathercraft BayLee I LW wrapped on the right. This design still allows your raft being easily emptied of water. With the ability to open the skirt by zipper, there are no issues with velcro getting worn out as is the case with Alpacka rafts.
Thanks again to Goo Vogt for bayLee I LW demo boat. Goo can be reached at: sotaralaska (at) yahoo (dot) com
Feathercraft's BayLee I LW (left) is uniformly shaped like a kayak which might make it a better whitewater boat. The yellow Alpacka Yak 2003 model (right) is wider at the stern than the bow and shorter than the BayLee I LW which is Feathercraft's smallest packraft. The closest Alpacka boat comparable to the BayLee I LW in length is the Alpacka Llama. Comparing the weight of the Bay Lee I LW with the Llama, the Llama wins easily. Alpacka's Llama has 4.5 lbs while the BayLee I LW has 7.5 pounds (both boats incl. spray skirt). Cause for the weight difference is probably the much tougher fabric used by Feathercraft for floor and tubes.
The Feathercraft (right) comes up higher in the bow and stern compared to the Alpacka Yak 2009 model (left). The Feathercraft also has bigger tubes for more buoyancy.
Feathercraft BayLee I LW (blue boat) and Alpacka Yak 2009 model (red boat).
The stern of the BayLee I LW (above) has a wider shape. Also, see the two inflation valves for the two chambers. Having the two air chambers certainly also makes for a tougher boat. The valves Feathercraft uses, even though they prevent lots of moisture from entering the chambers they are heavier than the open air intakes Alpacka uses. Also, due to the smaller air-intake the BayLee I LW takes longer to blow up with an inflation bag.
The stern of the Alpacka is more arrow-shaped compared to the Feathercraft.
Feathercraft did a superb job in designing a simple seat that is actually super comfortable. If you ever sat in an Alpacka for more than an hour you know what I am talking about. The reason for comfort is the flat pillow design of the BayLee I LW. The seat is also easier to exchange than the Alpacka's due to a simple attachment system (see picture below).
Feathercraft's easy solution to an exchangeable seat.
Unfortunately, Feathercraft's backrest is not satisfactory. The backrest is attached to straps and the attachment points (see thumb above) break easily when entering the raft. The most serious issue however is that the straps create potential for foot entrapment. Aplacka's solution to the backrest is both safer and more elegant. Since the Feathercraft is generally longer, Feathercraft could move the seat more towards the middle of the boat for even better white water abilities.
Feathercraft uses straps to adjust the backrest. The straps however, create high potential for foot entrapment particularly when having to perform a wet exit.
Above is Feathercraft's (black valve) superior mouth valve. If you have a boat like me that Alpacka had made by Feathercraft back in 2003/4 (yes, Feathercraft initially built packrafts for Alpacka) you have probably gotten to appreciate the fact that these valves are less likely to leak. The reason is that they are flexible and you can bend them for blowing into the mouth piece. Above you can see that the valve nicely attaches to the boat fabric in form of a ring. Thus fabric and valve are easily bonded and stay that way because you can bend the valve as shown in the picture above.
Above is Alpacka's 2010 model valve (red valve). You can not bend it which is a problem. If you want to bring the valve to your mouth since it is not flexible in itself you have to pull the valve away from the boat which stresses the glue holding the valve and boat fabric together. As a result, Alpacka often has valves that leak at the attachment point (see arrow above). In other words, since you have to pull it away from the fabric to bring it to your mouth, the valve detaches from the boat fabric at the point of the arrow (above) and thus easily creates a leak.
Feathercraft did a nice job designing this simple spray skirt which actually holds up well against water coming in at your chest and back. Two bungee suspenders are attached to the spray skirt using velcro. Each of the two suspenders has a velcro patch to attach the front end of the bungee-suspender to the part of the sprayskirt that lays on your chest. The back of the suspenders is fixed to the spray skirt at the stern. There is just enough velcro to hold it and not too much to make it too hard to wet exit. Unfortunately, there is still water sitting in the middle of the spray skirt when paddling.
The spray skirt has a velcro exit on the right and a good quality zipper on the left that goes all the way to the bow. I found that the spray skirt could be a bit better attached to the boat. Sometimes packrafters grab the skirt when trying to hold on to their boat. River current and heavy loads can easily detach the skirt from the boat.
Feathercraft's skirt comes up high in the back.
The velcro on the right side of the sprayskirt is two sided. This can be pretty tough to get out of when doing your wet exit. Also the suspenders, even though they nicely keep the sprayskirt high on your torso, it's a bit more difficult to get out of once you are upside down in the water having to wet exit.
The velcro on the skirt's suspenders get stuck underneath the seat. This can create another foot entrapment and is troubling if you get back in you boat after a wet exit and can't find the suspenders to put back on.
Additional room for improvement with the BayLee I LW are the strap plates closest to the middle of the raft. Unfortunately, these strap plates (see arrow above) are exactly attached where a paddler's hand may come closest to the tubes of the raft. When I first used the raft I tore up my finger nails pretty well. If these strap plates could be moved further towards the bow, they could all be used for securing the load.
Spray skirt of the Alpacka Yak 2009 model tied up underneath the load.
Spary skirt of the Feathercraft BayLee I LW wrapped on the right. This design still allows your raft being easily emptied of water. With the ability to open the skirt by zipper, there are no issues with velcro getting worn out as is the case with Alpacka rafts.
Thanks again to Goo Vogt for bayLee I LW demo boat. Goo can be reached at: sotaralaska (at) yahoo (dot) com
4 comments:
Nice review Toby --- but note that your Alpaca is 7 years old. A lot has changed in design since then. The newer Alpaca's have a very different spray deck and the bow has a 4 inch upturn. Not only that but many of the features (like leaky valves) have been addressed and fixed.
BTW - you should post a link to this on the pack rafting forums (http://packrafting.org/forums/index.php). Lot's of people would like to read your review.
- billy
Cool review - thanks for posting it.
A question - I am not really following how the suspenders are attached to the spray skirt - they are attached with Velcro? On both ends or just one end? Just looking at the pictures the suspenders look a bit scary from a wet exit perspective...
That's a really helpful review. I especially like the look of the new seat - my arse gets very numb in my Alpacka!
I thought you might be willing to share my recent packrafting expedition across Iceland with your readers? http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/adventures/transiceland/
Thank you,
Alastair
I have 4 of the 2010 Alpackas, I still find the value leaks. As to the suspenders, I think they would be great for rain days, a major problem with Alpacka Skirts is that they slide down to ones hips, water pools, and then drains into the boat. If one was in class III or IV whitewater, just do not use them. I have a Bay Lee I, plan to run whitewater here in Alaska, looking forward to how well it performs.
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