Those of you who have followed the site for many years will know that I usually only ever use Playboater spraydecks. I have owned a few and they are always superb. Well today I tried my new Immersion Research Klingon Empire Spraydeck and have been simply blown away.

This is what IR say about the deck:

The Klingon Empire is the same skirt as the Klingon with one major difference- the front casing (the high wear area going over the front portion of the cockpit rim) is laminated with a high thread-count Kevlar™. This very costly strip of woven gold is simply the best possible fabric when it comes to flexible abrasion resistance, making it the perfect choice for people who are exceptionally hard on spray skirts.

The Klingon skirt, with it’s high-tension bungee and extra neoprene extending out past the bungee make it a perfect choice for keeping even the most difficult rims dry. Typical use would include high-end playboating and on creek boats where all other skirt designs seem to leak.

The Klingon Empire had been bought for my new Pyranha Jed as I wanted something with a dry lip and bungee. An order to IR in the States and a couple of weeks later it landed. The deck arrived early last week and despite opening it up it has sat unloved in corner of the dining room. Work has been getting in the way of fun out on the water. So today was my first chance to get the deck onto a boat and get it wet.

As with all new decks it is always a good idea to get it on the boat and leave it for short while. The deck was fitted for a few hours this morning and was tough to get on. By 2pm this afternoon when I went for a paddle the deck went on like a dream. I was expecting to have to wet the deck to get it to stretch but it wasn’t an issue.

After over 3hrs of play boating I am very impressed with build quality and fit of the deck. The deck has been constructed in such a way that it is shaped and contours with the shape of a cockpit. All of the seams have been glued and taped. The outer band of material (cream area in the images below) is a really tough kevlar based fabric.

The deck provides an excellent fit (XL cockpit) for the Pyranha Jed and has proved to be very dry. The inner part of the deck that has contact with the boat is coated in a silicon type material and it helps hold the deck in place.

It is due for another outing tomorrow for more boating in the sun.