[alanw]

I went the opposite and switched from a Stealth-12 to an X-factor and I couldn't be happier.

I'm 5'11" and 215. The S-12 always seemed a bit too small to me. I almost never fish the bay though so you may be alright. The rear tankwell was always wet in the S-12, about 1/2" of water sat in there with my yak loaded up. The side hatches are way too small and odd shaped. They made it hard to get to my spare paddle and hand pump if needed quickly, and forget about stuffing a battery in there, you have to use the front hatch. I loved the center bait tank, but the center forward bait tank on the X-Factor is fine for what it is. The S-12 is lacking storage space, where the X-F has plenty. When the water in the S-12 bait tank sloshes around from wave action some water leaks out into the seat area. Plan on a being wet all day.

It feels like the S-12 had a little bit more side-to-side foot room than the X-F though, which might not seem like a big deal but it is. The S-12 was a little easier to transport, and I didn't need a bed extender. The round bait tank seemed to hold more bait better and bigger macks were ok in it, while the X-F square tank isn't so good for big macks as they are almost the length of the tank.

They both paddle and drift very similar which isn't surprising since they have the same hull shape, although the bigger X-F is definitely a dryer ride all around. I'm not sure if they fixed the leaking side hatch problem on the Stealths now, but it used to be a big problem.

They both feel very similar on the water, but after trying both I do prefer the X-Factor. It's a slow paddling barge but so was the S-12. I may like to try the S-14 someday to see how that compares.