Construction

The Xplora 18 is not the traditional fiberglass layup found in most fishing skis, but instead is made from a sandwich core construction of Carbon and Kevlar with Basalt Innegra reinforcement in key areas . This gives a strong and stiff layup, with a reduction in weight for a ski of this size, allowing us to give you more freeboard, storage and volume, while keeping the ski weight in line with other offerings on the market. Our skis are built with quality Allnex gelcoats, Scott Bader Crystic infusion resins and we source reinforcement cloths from Colan Australia. There is no wood, XPS, or pouring foams any where in our builds; we want to offer you a quality product, so we start our process with quality materials.

Scanport

The Xplora 18 is the first composite ski on the market to offer you a dedicated solution other than shooting thru-hull for installing a fish finder transducer on your fishing ski without the need to drill holes. This also makes the install of Side Scan and Totalscan transducers on a composite ski a breeze, we can even supply a specific Scanport cover to suit your sounder meaning you won't need any power tools or DIY experience to get the job done!  

Recessed rudder

The Xplora 18 range come with a semi-elliptical under stern rudder that gives plenty of surface area for good grip in sloppy seas and under sail, while the square bottom edge allows you to run your ski in shallower water before bottoming out. The solid stainless shaft is robust and tough, while the foam core provides stiffness and strength without the unnecessary weight of a full glass layup.

The underside of the ski is slightly recessed to house the rudder blade to help prevent fishing lines and weed from getting caught in a pinch-point between the top of the rudder and the underside of the hull.

Magnetised tackle tray

Just in front of the fish hatch lid we have added a recessed area to hold small metal tackle items that can often make their way overboard. We've also installed rare earth magnets in the tackle tray too to help you hold onto your jig heads and live bait needles. Let's be honest no one wants sharp things rolling around in their seat bucket while trying to concentrate on fighting a fish!

Side open fish hatch

The sounder market is ever evolving and with increases in competition, there is great value to be had in modern fish finder units. This has led to an increase in the head unit size being used by anglers on kayaks, which in turn increases the weight and subsequent slamming on the front deck from forward opening fish hatches. As a result we have opted to make our fish hatch side opening allowing you to keep it in your hand as it drops open avoiding the impacts on your head unit. The hinge system can be set up for left or right opening as you prefer. These units come with both the industry proven lever lock hatch straps as well as a quick release strap as standard.

100L rear hatch

We wanted to maximise the space in the rear storage hatch to allow room to pack all the essentials for your fishing trip, as well as helping to accomodate all of the gear you might need for an island hopping adventure or a multi-night trip. We've managed to allow for 100L of gear in the back, which coupled with the fish hatch and the central hatch will swallow all the gear for your next adventure! As with the fish hatch, the construction of our rear storage hatch gives full access to the underside of the deck making installs a breeze.