Vajda Orca

The V10/12 seats are very similar.
The V12 is just a bit flatter on the bottom and a touch wider at the top. It just flares a little right at the top to give hip clearance.(maybe Oscar was predicting his present body shape)

The V12 is certainly much shorter in the leg length as I run it full length, but I have 2 clicks to go on the V10.

It also has lowered sides in the bum area and is far easier to me to remount. I think the greater secondary helps here as it is quite stable when you sit into it from the side, whereas the V10 has quite a small balance point to me in the same position.

I am quite happy with the V10 apart from the occasional weirdness that catches me out.
I think that a Fenn elit/SL is better in really difficult quartering and mult-idirection swell and wind. This is where the V10 shows it's weirdness.
Never really got the 12 into those conditions for an extended time to make a really good judgement.

I think that the time I spent in the 12 was comfortable and I paddled it in various directions to the swell, but the swell and wind were almost lined up so it was pretty clean really.

Previously I had spent time in the V12 in very short messy quartering stuff and I thought it was a real improvement over the V10, but I do take on board the comments above of just getting wobble overload over a long distance.
This I couldn't comment on.

I spent 20km downwind in it but it wasn't difficult conditions.
I did pass through some apoptic stuff between the island and the mainland and I thought it performed better than my V10.
The V10 has given me the willies in that same place, but who knows if conditions are really comparable.
I also did 17km or so in smaller less wind wobbly stuff where it was just chasing holes, and in that it performed beautifully.

I'd probably place more weight on an opinion of somebody that has lived with one for a while, I know that it certainly took me a while to tease out the real V10.
I certainly know that everybody has days when they just feel a little uncertain, and maybe in that circumstance, the V12 may be a handful.

But so far I like it.

Except for that stupid cockpit cover.

If they made it extend less towards the rear and have a proper attachment instead of stupid velcro and maybe round the rear edge that wants to attack you if you had a moment, it would be a huge improvement.

And just wondering, how heavy are you mckengmsurfski?

RAB, I'm right at 79kg and 1.85m tall.
I completely agree about the bucket in the 2 skis.
The V12 has been one of the easiest skis for me to remount thanks to the bucket shape and the lovely secondary stability. You can paddle the think at a 45 degree angle comfortably. It gives you a great sense of security. It is THE thing I miss about the ski. My current ski, a Nelo Ocean Vintage Ski, does a lot of things that I really like, but its secondary stability is not great compared to the V12, and the V12's ease of remount (especially in conditions) has really spoiled me. Remounting the Nelo is certainly more challenging and that is taking some getting used to... more from a mental aspect than anything else.
My initial thoughts on the V12 were very similar to yours RAB. Over time though, it started to wear on me. Where I'm at, we get a pretty mixed bag of conditions, a lot of cross chop and waves moving in multiple directs in the same area... Consistent downwind conditions are not the rule around here.
The cockpit cover is silly...

Funny... thread about vajda orca and people keep talking about Epic V10 & V12... How come the orca looks so SIMILAR ? And what about their new ski ? The OSCAR ! looks like a V8 ! Mr Chalupsky must be very happy about this.

Hiro wrote: Funny... thread about vajda orca and people keep talking about Epic V10 & V12... How come the orca looks so SIMILAR ? And what about their new ski ? The OSCAR ! looks like a V8 ! Mr Chalupsky must be very happy about this.

Just checked it out, at first glance it looks like the same ski in a different colour , but on closer inspection there are differences, but obviously it is a direct shot at the V8 category of ski!... and too call it the "Oscar" whoah, either they are building it under licence from Epic (bought the design perhaps?) or it's a "In your face!" move

I've got an Orca and would say with confidence it has the most comfortable seat of all the skis I've paddled.

Best Orca video below.

vimeo.com/29480888

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery........

But to call it the Oscar, that is gold!

Apparantly they have another new ski coming out soon. They're calling it the Chalup-Ski.

So what's next ? V14 ? E-Peek ?
Someone at Vajda has a strange sense of humor.