It's now 2 years and 2 months since I bought my Epic 16X. I continue to be extraordinarily pleased, over and over, with the boat as a companion for the sort of paddling I do. It is lightweight, making it easy to get on and off the roof racks and onto the water. The combination of light weight and hull design makes the boat fast and easy to paddle, so I can easily keep up with or even outrun my paddling partners. The boat doesn't weathercock, is relatively stable, and behaves very well in a seaway. As I've outlined in previous posts, I've made some modifications: reworked the straps that hold the hatches closed (these have been replaced by cams on the newer boats); replaced the bungees with stronger, thicker ones; replaced the Spectra rudder cords with stainless; reworked the architecture of the foot pedals. I've also filled the articulated-stern rudder with spray-in minicell foam to eliminate a leaking problem thru the bolt-hole that holds the rudder to the boat, and have twice epoxied the rail that the seat slides on back onto the hull interior. I've made these various changes and repairs with a cheerful, positive attitude that I'm making a fine boat even better--my history with the four kayaks I've had now includes building two of them (wood) and custom-fitting them out, and extensively "revising" the two store-bought fiberglass boats, the Dirigo 17 and this Epic 16X, to suit my requirements for a very personal boat/companion. Paddlers who cannot imagine themselves fiddling around and tinkering with a kayak in this manner should bear this in mind when they evaluate my analysis of the Epic. But they should recall that Greg Barton and Oscar Chalupsky are primarily racers and are interested, first and foremost, in making boats that are light and fast; they are not recreational paddlers. But paddlers should also recall that Freya Hoffmeister circled Australia and is circling South America in an Epic, and that says a lot about the positive qualities of the Epics. I am almost always paddling mine with a big smile on my face!