Roger wrote: Not a problem. I've paddled the Sea Star quite a bit and it is pretty insensitive to ballast shift, probably due to a fairly high prismatic coefficient plus good flair at both ends. These boats can haul a lot of gear without slowing down much. Insensitive to ballast shift maybe, until the wind comes up. I owned a Sea Star for about 3 years. When day tripping (no load in the boat) the Sea Star weather cocks even in light winds and can be unmanageable in high winds (25 to 50 knots) if not properly loaded. I paddled once with some friends in Skagit Bay when the wind was blowing 35 to 50 knots. The boat was loaded slightly stern heavy. I had only 8 lbs of gear in the boat and placed it in the stern hatch before we launched and there was nothing in the bow hatch. I was paddling into the wind when a strong gust turned me broadside. No matter what I tried I could not get turned back up-wind. Finally I paddled backwards for about 15 to 20 minutes and worked my way into the mouth of South Fork and got close enough to shore to get some protection from the wind and got turned around. After a lunch break I put the 8 lbs of gear in the bow hatch and we headed back out into the wind. Big difference! I could paddle broadside to the wind and then carve a turn up-wind at will. The Sea Star is one boat that needs a rudder (unfortunately) and it needs a load in it to handle well in windy conditions. My Sea Star did not have a rudder. Also you should know that Eddyline actually has 2 different (Sea Star) hull designs. The original was taken out of production for several years but I think they are making it again so maybe Dave has one of these. My Sea Star was the "new" design. I don't know what the difference is but I've heard from some that they preferred the old design. Steve Scherre may have some information on this. I think he has one of the originals. Rex *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Mar 11 1998 - 22:23:53 PST
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