I - and a handful of other dedicated Explorer pilots - feel the Latitude can be a realistic alternative to our Explorers. Latitudes came out of Nigel’s Pilgrim concepts of a narrower and deeper cockpit fit with additional knee height for power (like some Sprint boat techniques), allowing for greater hip and hamstring engagement.
The Latitude has evolved through several adjustments to its fundamental design specs in arriving at its current 2025/2026 form. NDK has experimented with overall length differences, now at 17’ 3”. Most of the additional length has been inserted behind the cockpit, just as Nigel did with the Explorer’s evolution out of the Romany Classic’s 16’.
This length has increased the hull’s effective overall speed and reduced stern squashing during the hard driving phase of our forward stroke. The end result is a smoother, quieter hull through the water, with a diminished loss of glide speed while setting up for one’s opposite forward stroke. NDK’s reforming of the knee bump shapes, along with their fuller, thicker more forward bow orientation, has opened up the paddler space for meatier pilots.
The current Latitude configuration is a bit less bow dominant in its turn-ability, but MIKCo has found more of our extensive number of demo paddlers favoring the traits of the current Latitude’s most recent performance configuration for overall daily paddling: both fully loaded and with just day kit on board. I’d suggest average touring speed has improved by 1/2 to 3/4 of a knot.
A fair summary of the overall Latitude configuration is it’s now closer to an Explorer than to the turnier Romany or Pilgrim, but with a smaller cross-section than the Explorer. Sure, it carries a bit less expedition-level kit; but remember that Nigel’s overall commitment to carrying a fuller, fatter cross-section further toward the boat’s ends provides a greater load capacity than other manufacturers’ more conventional deeper V bow and stern sections. Most of us Explorer-biased paddlers do not feel constrained by the kit volume.
Additionally, NDK has reformulated the Latitude’s overall cockpit length, while experimenting with several knee bump shapes and fore/aft placements, which MIKCo has found slots-in with the physiological below-the-hip dimensions of its demo paddlers.
Recently spent a few hours gunking around Cushing in our demo Latitude. My impressions:
What aren’t paddlers getting about this second gen boat, now out several years? Yes, 20” sounds narrow, and it doesn't sit easily flat on its primary. But even the slightest edge or rest onto one side or other of its very flat V-hull, immediately engages its NDK, high, solid secondary stability, like my Romany Classic and day-loaded Explorer.
It feels like this NDK’s fuller but bit narrower bow, sitting deeper in the water, converts more of each stroke’s power into forward movement. The bow’s side to side movement on each stroke is far less than in my 16’ Romany Classic.
Having a bit more water purchase, the narrower bow responds more quickly to any desired course change when I ‘steer’ with the water pressure on the bow from edging.
At 6’, 198 lbs, my legs slide in when in the seat without skinning my shins. And even with my oft-challenged lower back, the seat’s backrest is about perfect at tilting my pelvic position forward, aligning my vertebrae atop each other. The higher knee position, offers looser hamstrings due to the reconfigured, deeper knee bumps. And the deeper cockpit allows positioning of the back rest higher on my pelvis, making it less effort to maintain a more vertical spine.
Tb, 7/7/26
Helpful?
Perhaps try a Latitude when you’re demoing an Explorer and its equivalents.
Tom Bergh, MIKCo, Peaks Island
Photo courtesy of Bill Doucet.
You can view MIKCo's in-stock Latitudes here.