The Tahe Marine Greenland was born when centuries of established kayak culture met up with the creative capabilities of modern technology. This kayak is a direct descendent of the traditional kayaks of Greenland, ancient boats that reached Europe as early as the 17th century. Our modern reincarnation uses the same classic low-volume hull with a V-shaped bottom. Although this requires a level of proficiency, at the same time it delivers unmatched speed and performance on both calm waters and in the face of breaking waves. The Greenland’s cockpit space for your feet was carefully engineered, keeping in mind the characteristics and needs of the human body on long journeys. On trips that last several days the true wonders of this tradition inspired kayak clearly manifest themselves — speed, lightness and one very relaxed paddler.
– Tahe Marine Team

First Glance:

The Tahe Greenland is “a long, narrow, sleek-looking
kayak reminiscent of skin-on-frame Greenland kayaks. It
does not just have distant Greenland influences on a modern
design, it’s the real thing” (JK). “It’s a beauty and does
a remarkable job of conveying the elegance of the traditional
kayak in fiberglass” (TE). “The matte texture on
most of the top deck resists scratches better than smooth
gel coat. The white gel coat on the inside of the kayak
makes for a smooth but slightly heavier kayak” (JK). The
aft deck has a recessed groove with two stainless steel rods
for locking or towing points. The groove “drains the aft
hatch recess and stiffens the deck where you sit on it getting
in and out of the boat. Very good idea!” (TE).
The Greenland is “light for its length and an easy
carry. There are no carry toggles or grab loops, but it’s
easy to grab the narrow bow or stern for tandem carry”
(GL). “The traditional way of carrying works very well:
face the stern and bring the boat overhead and rest the
forward end of the coaming on your shoulders. The balance
is good and the carry is quite comfortable” (TE).

Fit

“The almost round cockpit demands feet-first entry”
(JK). “The opening is the smallest I’ve been able to get
through. My kneecaps don’t enjoy the passage but
once I’m in it’s a snug but great fit” (TE). JK noted “the
design statement about the engineered space for feet
on long trips. Mine were not comfortable on a short
trip.” “The low foredeck necessitates wearing a small
slipper-type booties, or going barefoot. My size-10
neo prene booties were a bit long but not un comfortable”
(GL). The aft deck is “very low and allows an
easy and complete layback” (TE).
The molded seat is unpadded but
“fairly comfortable. I did get some
discomfort at the tailbone after an
hour of straight paddling” (GL). The
seat “curves up at the back so it felt
quite secure. I could sit upright without
needing the back rest” (TE). The
back band is “pretty basic; nylon-covered
foam with a plastic stiffener. The
single adjustment is a sliding buckle
on the back. The string that holds it
up is OK, but bungees might work
better for pulling it back as the paddler
gets in. The underside of the deck acts
as a thigh brace, but would be more
comfortable if covered with foam. It
is more than adequate for edging and
rolling” (JK). “The coaming recess hits
the meat of my thighs, so the there is no
irritating contact with the knee. To say I
felt locked in was an understatement. I
was quite secure” (TE).
The foot braces “are rigid with contact
mid-foot rather than the ball. They
are easy to adjust with a lever but they
can’t be reached while seated in the tiny
cockpit” (GL).
The deck fittings are all recessed and
there are stout grab lines and bungees the
perimeter of the boat, but not out to the
very ends. There is a diagonal span of bungee
and deck line forward that “work well
for stowing a narrow paddle—particularly.
a Greenland paddle. A bead or two on
the bungee would make it easier to get
the blade stuffed under” (TE). “Overall, a
well thought out layout” (GL).
The Greenland’s skeg is “large, much
more than needed. I found a 20% setting
eliminated any weathercocking. Set even
half-way made turning difficult; set fully
and your course was stuck as if on rails”
(GL). “The skeg slider is easy to see and
operate” (TE).
Stability and maneuverability
For GL the “initial stability is low, twitchy,
with a side-to-side rocking pretty inevitable.
Secondary stability is low-moderate; a
bit dicey on its edge.” “The initial stability
is moderate, and certainly more than I
expected. The secondary stability is good.
It feels pretty solid for such a narrow boat”
(JK). “Initial stability is indeed low, but not
twitchy in flat water. The secondary stability
is also low but the boat is very easy to
edge and it is certainly a pleasure for
advanced bracing and rolling techniques.
Fully deployed, the skeg, oddly enough,
contributed to stability at speed. With that
big blade fully extended the boat felt
noticeably more stable” (TE).
“The Greenland holds a course well. I did
not notice any yawing” (JK). TE thought
the Greenland was “a bit squirrelly. I was
better able to hold a line with the skeg
slightly deployed.” JK noted “On edge the
Greenland can carve a decent turn but not
a tight one,” but GL thought “With just a
bit of lean, steering is excellent.”

Speed

The Greenland “accelerates quickly, but
it doesn’t go too fast. Cruising speed is
around 3½ knots, exercise pace gets up
to 4½ knots, and I could get my GPS to
almost 6 knots” (JK). TE “was able to
lope along at a cruising pace of 4¾ knots,
maintain a 5½ knot exercise pace and
peaked at 6 knots in a short sprint. The
bow rises and the stern squats and for
me 6¼ knots just wasn’t within reach.
Aside from that, the Greenland feels easily
driven at lower speeds. Powering into
the waves drive the bow through wave
tops, but water coming over the foredeck
stayed low and didn’t throw up any
spray” (TE). The Greenland has “very
little windage, excellent balance, only the slightest
weathercocking in light wind. A little bit of skeg
can be used but wasn’t really needed” (GL). “The
skeg can easily tune out weather cocking
and allow you to set a steady course in
any direction relative to the wind. With
the skeg full extended the bow quickly
falls downwind. I found myself adjusting
the skeg frequently with each change of
heading. For surfing there wasn’t much
to work with but the Greenland accelerated
easily. With the skeg retracted the
bow tended to wander off line, so having
a bit of skeg deployed kept the kayak
heading down wave” (TE). Rescue and Recovery During
wet exiting “I didn’t fall out, but
despite the tight fit I had little trouble
getting out. I had to extract myself and
get my kneecaps worked by the coaming
recess. Wet exits should be practiced
before an emergency. I could get back
aboard with a cowboy scramble without
too much trouble, I had the paddle out
to the side, sat on it and then slid in”
(TE). “I could do a paddle float re-entry
as long as I turned to face forward before
I slid into the cockpit” (JK).
“The Greenland rolls very well. It may
be the easiest kayak I have ever rolled.”
(JK). “Easy rolling and hand rolling: a
great kayak for learning Greenland skills”
(GL). “One of the easiest boats to roll I’ve
seen. I could easily do a hand roll with
just one hand. There is great clearance for
laybacks. If you’re into Greenland style
this boat is pretty close to the real thing.
With my weight aboard the aft deck submerges
slightly for laybacks. Reentry and
roll went surprisingly well. I slipped into
a seated position quickly and easily rolled
up. With the kayak fully swamped the aft
deck was slightly awash aft of the cockpit
but I felt quite stable and could paddle
just fine” (TE).

Cruising

JK “could probably pack for a weekend in
the Greenland, but I doubt I could pack for
much longer. The two round hatches and
the long, narrow, shallow hull necessitate
even more careful loading than most kayaks.”
The Kajaksport hatches are tethered,
very easy on and off and watertight. Bow
and stern compartments were absolutely
bone dry after a week of rolling practice!”
(GL). TE and JK also reported dry compartments
after their trials. The Greenland
has fiberglass bulkheads. “The stern bulkhead,
located closely behind seat, limits
water ingress and facilitates easy removal
with a single lift of the bow” (GL).
The Bottom Line
“The Tahe Greenland is a true Greenlandstyle
kayak. It is not for beginners, but
rather experienced paddlers who want
to explore traditional kayaking without
having to build their own boat” (JK).
“One for the A-list if Greenland style is
your desire. For medium-sized, intermediate
to advanced paddlers looking
to hone Greenland or other rolling skills,
and for rough-water play, and also a
kayak that’s fast and versatile enough
for fun overnight getaways” (GL). “The
Greenland is a lovely kayak and an exciting
boat to paddle. It’s a fun boat even if
all you want to do is roll” (TE).

MANUFACTURER’S RESPONSE
Once more we are very grateful for the review of the testers at Sea
Kayaker. We appreciate that the testers found things like the matte
texture on the top deck, the stainless steel rods for locking or towing
the kayak and the groove for drainage in the back deck of the

reflected in every single detail. We would also like to inform that the
beads for the bungee and the soft foam thigh pads for cockpit are
available to order from our portfolio as extra items, unfortunately we
do not supply the kayak with these as a standard version. The same
goes for the back band being basic. The idea when introducing the
kayak to the market was to keep it as basic and close to “original”
as possible without the extra bells and whistles, taking into con sideration
that many of the customers want to custom adjust the kayak
and its components. We would also like to stress that the two cockpit
sizes give a wider range of customers the possibility to enjoy the

– Marek Pohla, R&D Manager, Tahe Marine Team