The Elite kayaks are made of fibre glass with a lighter overall lay up than the standard kayaks. This makes the Elite kayaks approximately 3 kilos lighter than the standard kayak. With reinforced keel and stress areas on deck and hull this is still a fairly strong kayak, but not as strong as the standard kayak and requires more looking after.
The stronger a kayak is needed, the heavier it will have to be. The Elite lay up is far easier to repair than the carbon-kevlar construction. The kayaks come with internal and external glass seams. The approximate weight of an Elite Explorer is 22 kilo including hatches etc.