review of the RH340

The Rh340 "Coastal" from Bluesky kayaking and Teksport

i have been following this boat for a few years before i was able to get one...i was entranced by the idea that a boat for touring would also surf and be a stable and fun boat to rockgarden in.....
in this genre of boats i had previously owned a Sun Max Velocity that i was overall unhappy with....
so when i saw that there was another boat in this stream of thinking i was ecstatic....

so....after years of reading about it online in forums and emailing with everyone i could find who had one i finally got to unwrap mine.....


first thoughts:
neat looking boat...just as i imagined from the pictures i had seen of it....simple bungee system-3 parallel across the deck....and the stern bungees are set up to hold a spare paddle quite well....
the deck hardware is well recessed to keep from getting caught on any part of you/boat....
kajaksport oval hatch in the rear...with an extra retaining bungee line to go around the edge of the hatch...simple webbing grab handles....skeg control-a big block to push on....the seat looked basic....no thigh pads..
the foot area has no footpegs...instead it has a "buoyancy pod"...a big chunky white plastic thing that attaches to the side of the boat white water boat style with two aluminum rods with screws back by your knees....there aer a bunch of holes in the metal to provide a range of sizing for anyone to use it.....
i had ordered a set of the fins for the boat as well...i found them in a Ziploc bag with 4 simple stainless screws....an extra amount of $ for them but i figured that if i was surfing (like i know i was going to) i would want them...
the boat also has a skeg-looks like a standard P&H skeg...interesting thing is that the wire is not cut to fit specifically this boat...the skeg control tube runs all the way up into the bow....makes a kind of weird rattling noise if it bounces around....
there are rubber thigh hooks attached to the cockpit coaming-pretty basic but they work well...
back band is basic as well....

specific complaints/changes/modifications:

fins-i wish that Teksport had included the allen wrench that fits the screws-i had to hunt around for a bit to find the correct one...i do have wonders about the longevity of the fin attachment places....might think about putting in a real long board finbox at some point in the future-taking the fins off would be simple then...
bow and stern handles-neat simple webbing....the bow handle ripped out because the hole that was burned in the webbing for the screw to hold it down was too big...this was an easy fix and Teksport quickly sent me a packet of webbing to fix it up....
the handles were a bit small for my hand....so when they sent new webbing a wee bit extra was included so i made the handles bigger-enough to get a gloved hand into it...when i brought that issue up with Teksport they said that they are not allowed to make the handle any bigger legal-wise...

Deck rigging-there is NONE except for bungee!!!!
for a boat that is designed to be used in surf and moving water "conditions" to not have any deck rigging is interesting....the only spot on the bow to hold onto was the handle (which pulled out-mentioned above).....and the stern you had bungee and a too small handle too....
i figured out how to make this boat safer and easier to hold onto....i spun all the recessed deck fittings (rdf's) that held the bungees 90 degrees....so that the bottom-most hole in the rdf was lined up pointing towards the bow/stern...and since there were three rdf's in a row on each side of the bow that made it really easy to string a line through them and up through the handle and back down the other side...
now there is a bow line to hook a tow line to/or to hold onto if you are in the water....
the stern-i did the same thing by spinning the rdf's and stringing a line through.
the seat-i added in a seat padz from NSI to start with....i am thinking about drilling holes and adding in hip pads-make it fit more like a white water boat....


using the boat......

sitting in it it is quite comfortable stock....the deck height IS 16" inches but theseat is about 2" thick so it does not feel overwhelming....it fits any skirt that would fit a capella (the designer's words)....the rear deck height is a little high but overly bad....the back band provides a good cushion when rolling....
the buoyancy pod for the feet is a comfy item....very reminiscent of foaming out your own bulkhead (i did add a 1/4" sheet of foam to it for some give)....i am 5'10" and fit great....a friend who is 6'4" fit great with room in this boat....and the pod was NOT all the way forward....can get a whole range o people into this boat easily......

the skeg control is on the left of the cockpit-a little weird for me....and it is stiff.....not certain why.....the skeg box is a good width with two nubs to keep the skeg inline (ie P&H Capella RM style-noticing a pattern?)

rolling: let it settle out upside down and then you will find a standard roll works just fine (in my experience)....because of the higher area deck a fast layback roll in the surf can be painful but it does get you back up on top quickly.....

hull: this boat has a good amount of rocker to it.....both bow and stern...it was designed for maneuverability when you need it....the 1st third of the hull has a pronounced V shape to it with LOTS of flare for a dry ride....i have yet to purl the bow on it...the rear 2/3rds is a modified planing hull for the surfing speed and maneuverability that you love when surfing....this boat can catch a swell out past the boardies at eh beach and screw on between them all....
when on a wave the 2 fins stick that stern in place on a wave....do not expect any cutbacks that are amazing but i can imagine that they might be possible (not for me yet)....a well placed stern rudder is wondrous on a wave face as well....and you can carve (not huge turns-but some smaller ones)....i have found that having the skeg down on a wave does not help me....just the fins and a blade is enough.....
flatwater: this hull weathercocks something fierce.....did you not expect it????i did.....
drop the skeg and it straightens right on out...with out any issues.....it does respond well to a edge in wind but the skeg is much easier...

this boat can spin 360 degrees with a good edge and two easy sweep strokes....it can spin 360 with out an edge too-only 3 sweeps......makes it easy to spin in place to see what is going on behind you in the water.....
this boat is super stable....i have not tried a split or headstand (could not do those on land anyhow) but it is wide and flat enough around the cockpit to make it be no problem if you are fumbling around.....
it leans well in a turn and edges great....
it front surfs GREAT and back surfs well too (keep your weight forward).....
there is a lot of space in this boat for storage....i know of a paddler or two who have these and do overnight trips easily.....
the kajaksport hatch has proved to be dry even after rolling in the surf....even after a bumpy wet exit in the surf too....
t rescue is simple in this boat too....had to try it....getting back in was no problem...DO CARRY a pump...the design of the cockpit and width of the boat makes a shoulder that is hard to dump out completely....

overall i thoroughly enjoy this boat...i am happy with it...and even happier with the modifications that i made to it (feel free to email for pix about the mods)......................
any questions?