What is your favorite kayak and Why? Dana ************************************************************************** * I like my Romany Expedition. It is 17 feet 6 inches LOA with a 21.5-inch beam. It has a fish form hull with a shallow V bottom, slab sides, and rounded chines. I bought it with a retractable skeg and added a deck compass, Henderson foot pump, and towing hardware. It has three watertight compartments, including a day compartment with a VCP hatch cover that is watertight yet easy to remove and put back on with one hand. That's where I keep my water bottle, lunch, and other stuff I want access to on the water. (I prefer a clean deck.) It also has a keyhole cockpit that gives good thigh contact while allowing easy entries and exits. For me at 5-8 and 170 pounds it is a good fit, but people with large thighs might find it a tight fit. Capacity is smaller than many West Coast kayaks, but adequate for a two-week trip if you pack right. As for performance, it has good initial and secondary stability, tracks well, carves well, and turns reasonably well when leaned, though my wife's Romany 16 is more maneuverable. It handles well in waves and is one of the easiest boats to roll that I know of. One reason I chose it is that the cockpit design makes a layback roll quite easy. I found both the Arctic Hawk and the Betsie Bay Manitou too restricting in that respect. Also, it requires less hip snap than either of those boats. After teaching myself to roll in my old Sealution, the first time I rolled a Romany it felt like all I had to do to roll it was to lift my knee! I don't have enough surfing experience to know how it handles in that regard, but it is reputed to handle well. Nigel Dennis' new boat, the Greenlander, is faster and even easier to roll than his Romanys (I popped up accidentally in it while trying an underwater scull), but it takes more outfitting (especially in the thigh area) to make it comfortable, and the small cockpit made it impossible for me to reach far enough forward to adjust the foot braces of the one I tested. The Romany is a much more comfortable boat for the average paddler in that and other respects. It is a very popular kayak on the Great Lakes, and many instructors and guides use it. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
At It also has a keyhole cockpit that gives good >thigh contact while allowing easy entries and exits. For me at >5-8 and 170 pounds it is a good fit, but people with large thighs >might find it a tight fit. I found both the Arctic Hawk and the Betsie Bay >Manitou too restricting in that respect. >Chuck Holst > On the Arctic Hawk , Mark Rogers of Superior kayaks is workong on a key hole cockpit for the arctic hawk. He doesn't like the Idea but Widerness systems thinks it will sell better and who better than the designer to make the changes.It might be out this year. Dana *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net ***************************************************************************
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