Ocean Kayak – Prowler Ultra 4.3 – Launch

Here we are May 12th 2011, in Auckland, New Zealand at the 2011 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show with the official launch of the new Ocean Kayak Prowler Ultra 4.3 kayak from Johnson Outdoor Watercraft.

Some quick stats:
Overall Length: 4.3 meters (14’1″)
Finished Weight: 27kg (59.5lb)

Feature Run-down:
Starting at the bow there is the now standard hard handle, no more toggle handles are used on the range or Prowler kayaks). This is followed by the all new hatch cover – “yea new cover but what about that damn frustrating neoprene cover underneath” I hear you say… Well good news that’s gone too! The new hatch cover is cover and seal all in one simple unit, this is a push on hatch cover with a funky little flick to lock switch on the top that both secures the cover and keeps the water out.

After the hatch we come to a deck storage area with a criss-cross of bungy. The top is flared and raised slightly in this area to help shed any water away from the cockpit.

Moving on we next see the cockpit area, although the cockpit is based on the Prowler Ultra 4.7 it has had more than few hours spent on it, the first thing we see is that the area around the transducer scupper has been modified, there is the inserts for the Scotty/Cannon base but over all it is now much wider and appears some what flatter so more space to fit more rod holders, the wells at the end of the footwells are no slightly smaller due to this. Next thing you notice in the foot wells is the total lack of any mouldings for your heel to slot into, it looks like this kayak is designed for either static foot rails or the rudder foot rails only (I’ve confirmed the non-ruddered model does come with static foot rails). The center well has been changed and is now slightly deeper and has been modified to better fit the Humminbird 700 series when you flip the lid, the rear wall has been sloped slightly to assist with using the optional rod tube. The step we saw in the bottom of the Ultra 4.7 well has gone too. The lid itself is the standard flippy lid we have seen on the Ultra 4.7 model but the hinge mech as been modified so as to enable the fitment of fishfinders with large plugs that would not normally fit through the hinge.

Down the side of the cock pit we see two rod holders and the solid handles. Then we move into the seat area, this is where we move away from the Ultra 4.7 and have a completely redesigned seating system, something we haven’t seen on a Prowler before… The seat consists of a large foam seat base and a separate seat back, the seat back has four positions and can also be folded flat for transport. The kayak is also capable of taking a standard comfort seat too, the new seat is the one which will be marketed in New Zealand and Australia, the rest of the world will be getting the comfort seat at this stage (don’t ask me why may be we need more padding down under…).

Further back there are is another first for the Prowler kayaks, moulded in rod holders, there are two behind the seat, these moulded in rod holders give the same rod holding capability as normal rod holders but without the additional surrounding space required (and without the need for the holder, three brass inserts, and three stainless machine screws, you would assume cheaper..), it will be interesting if we see these replacing traditional rod holders in the future or not… In addition to the two new moulded in rod holders we also see two more traditional rod holders and a threaded hole for a safety flag.

On the front wall of the rear well we find a small five inch hatch, this gives you access to the inside of the hull so you can fit the battery for your electronics.

The rear well is the same physical size as the Ultra 4.7 well so will also accept the roto-moulded Ocean Kayak Ice Box which has proven to be very popular with the Ultra 4.7 owners. Whilst the the live bait well from the Ultra 4.7 has been lost if you are a keen live bait fisherman then all is not lost as there will be a live bait tank available as an option which will fit in the rear well (of course you won’t be able to use the live bait tank and ice box at the same time…). The bottom of the rear well has been reworked too and now sports an additional center rear scupper.

Moving right to the rear of the kayak we find the single solid handle, the standard Ocean Kayak rudder moulding and fitting inserts. We also AT LAST have a rear flag mounting point, one either side so you can choose which side you want to or you could use one for an aerial mount too if you wished.

Ok that’s us finished with the top, underneath it’s pretty much the same hull as the Ultra 4.7 except for a couple of points, it’s of course shorter but actually not by that much as they have extended the keel slightly out the back to aid with tracking and waterline length, the last change is the transducer scupper, this has been very heavily reworked, it’s now a little bigger with the intention to give people more options when it comes to fitting transducers.

I’m here at the boat show with the boys from Johnson Outdoors, including the kayak designer himself Regan Ashton, and they are waiting to answer any questions you wish to fire at them through the forum, so post away boys! Let me know if you wanna see photos etc of particular parts too.

If you want to come down and see the new kayak in the plastic head to the boat show, and make your way to Hall 5

Cheers, Mental

To ask questions or to see the discussion take a look in the forum here > Ocean Kayak Prowler Ultra 4.3