P&H Valkyrie - experience?

P&H have a sea kayak model called the Valkyrie
Valkyrie

Hull is supposedly based on a surf ski

It is a poly decked boat. The few comments I've read about it suggest it is a fast (for a sea kayak) boat with limited storage.

It is hard to find a review.

I'm looking to get a robust sea kayak but don't want a slug. Used to paddling a racing K1, so most boats feel so 'dead' in comparison. 
The area I'd be paddling in is rocky, with rough water. Not really surf ski territory, a polyethylene boat would be better.

Hi Charly,

Since the beginning of summer, I have a Think Nitro. Same boat as the P&H Octane, surfski version of the Valkyrie.
I bought it for exactly the same conditions you mentioned: rough water, shallower rivers, .. basically anywhere I wouldn't want to take my Nelo550.
The one I bought was an unsold surplus that required some work on rudder, ...since it had not been put together by the dealer yet.Long story short: it is really half-way between sea kayak and surfski in terms of performance.
Whereas I can maintain a cruising speed of about 8.5 km/h in my sea kayak and 10.5 km/h in the Nelo over an hour, I hit about 9.5 in the Think Nitro. The stability is very similar to the Epic V7 I used extensively a few years back.
I find it quite nimble and well-mannered in waves, but I have an understern rudder, whereas the Valkyrie comes with an overstern. One thing is that the rudder lines show quite a bit of flexibility. The line are the Nelo rudder lines and very stable, so the flexibility must be coming from the hull bending or something with the internal guides. I doesn't bother me much, but YMMV.
Being PE, it is obviously quite heavy, but that also makes it a perfect loaner boat for friends and family.

Since the Valkyrie shares the same hull, I would expect it to perform similarly w.r.t. speed and stability. The storage space of the Valkyrie, from what I saw at the dealer, is very similar to a more traditional sea kayak, but you are likely not going to fill it up to the brim with camping gear when going for a playful paddle in rough water...

If you want to see the Valkyrie in action, I would recommend the video's of NorthSeaKayak on youtube. Dimitri is a P&H team paddler and is using a Valkyrie since 2018 or so... He also wrote a review of it on P&H's blog, which I think is well-written.

So, all in all, I wouldn't call it a slug, especially in view of storage space and ample stability, but it is not a race boat either. Horses for courses.

Best regards,

Tom

Not much to add, a fellow paddler bought one this spring and likes it very much as a knockaround boat.
Not as fast as his Epic V8 Pro but more seaworthy and of course more dent resistant.

TomVW - the problem might actually be the rudder lines. A friend bought the 560 the first year it was on the market. It came with stretchy lines that had to be replaced. I have seen some more recently produced nelos that do not have that problem. 

Hi Zach - That's what I thought first, too.

The Nitro came with blue rudder lines that where already fading, but the dealer gave me stiffer yellow lines. I installed those: spongy steering, plus the knots in the yellow lines wouldn't stay on.
I bought a new set of Nelo rudder lines with the fancy tensioning devices (since I was treating my Nelo to a carbon footplate upgrade anyway...): works wonder for the quick setting of leg length. Alas, the spongy feeling of the Nitro remains. But like I said, I can live with it.
The Nelo 550 with the same rudder lines has no stretch in the rudder lines at all... 

Thanks, that is exactly the sort of feedback I was looking for.

Having paddled a plastic sea kayak that is generally rated as 'medium' in the speed stakes, I realised that I'd really miss the lively responsiveness of a race boat. 

Needing to able to paddle on open, sometimes rough, waters suggests that something in-between the two would be good.