This is the second plastic kayak I have owned. I currently own two fiberglass kayak tandems. Having a plastic one is particularly nice on rocky rivers, because you don't have to worry about damaging the finish. When I first put this in the water, I didn't use the attachable skeg, and the boat weathercocked badly. Once you put on the skeg, everything handled fine. Because of the bad first impression, I held off reviewing it for a while until I had a better opportunity to paddle the boat. Time and the attachable skeg have changed my mind about the boat.
At only 35 lbs, I have the boat on and off my car in minutes and in the water. It's so light, I leave the back brace in the trunk. It moves quickly in the water, though not as fast as my longer boat, fiberglass boats. Stability is surprisingly good. I am 6'0", 200 lbs, and the boat supports my weight well; though, I don't think I could put much weight in it for storage, making it a day boat. Because it has no bulkheads, I put two floats behind the seat.
The foot pegs are a bit of a pain, and I cannot use kayak shoes because of the tight fit. This has as much to do with my size 13 feet as it does the boat. The tight fit is a trade-off for the light weight. It will probably be great for my teenagers. The rear of the seat does not protect against the back of the plastic seat hatch; so, I use a longer vest for comfort. Similarly, I think I will pad out the plastic knee braces for comfort.
I use it for my work out boat on a nearby 1 1/2 mile long lake, and it works out fine. When I give it an eight, it is not meant as a slight, but rather recognizes that it does not have all of the creature comforts of the more expensive boats. It is a bargain for a first time kayaker, deciding whether or not to paddle, or as a work out boat.