RE: [Paddlewise] P&H Sirius

Thanks to everyone on this list who helped with my search for a new
kayak.  I was initially interested in the P&H Sirius.  Soon I added the
Romany 16 to the short list.  A few others considered were the WS Arctic
Sparrow, VCP Pintail and even a Nordkapp.  A late addition to the
list--added by the helpful folks at the Small Boat Shop in Norwalk,
CT--was a Current Design Slipstream.  The Slipstream is new this year,
and is a scaled-down version of the Gulfstream.  Specs are 16' X 22" and
49 lbs in fiberglass.  The hull design is by Derek Hutchinson, and it
includes a drop-down skeg with a slider control that's right next to the
cockpit.

The two I ended up paddling were the Romany and the Slipstream.  With
the Romany, the bow kept trying to climb out of the water whenever I
applied a power stroke. This felt very inefficient to me.  Plus, because
of its more pronounced rocker, it wandered a little too much for my
liking under normal cruising stokes.  The Slipstream, OTOH, has a very
fine bow and sliced through the water.  Plus with less rocker, it
tracked pretty well without the skeg deployed.  

I ended up buying the Slipstream and took it for a five-hour paddle the
next day.  Half was in Long Island Sound (1-foot waves) and half in a
small, winding river.  I am extremely pleased with my choice.  Anyone
who's looking for a smaller, low-volume boat should consider the
Slipstream.

tdittrich

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	wayne steffens [SMTP:wsteffen_at_skypoint.com]
> Sent:	Friday, September 25, 1998 7:00 PM
> To:	paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
> Subject:	RE: [Paddlewise] P&H Sirius
> 
>  At 05:08 PM 9/15/98 -0400, Tom Dittrich wrote:
> >I'm in the market for a fiberglass, hard-chined kayak, and am looking
> at
> >the P&H Sirius.  I'll be able to demo one in a couple weeks, but am
> very
> >interested in hearing from current and past owners.
> 
> 
> I picked up my new Sirius last Friday. I took it out into some of the
> wildest surf I've ever been in last Saturday, and it performed very
> well. I
> was especially impressed with how it sliced through the breaking
> waves.
> Most boats that I've paddled try to both slice and ride over waves,
> and
> usually dont end up doing either very well. The Sirius sliced them
> effortlessly. It does give a wet ride because of that (although the
> low
> volume deck is lower too), but that doesnt bother me since I'm going
> to get
> wet in surf anyway. It doesnt maneuver as well as my Romany did, but
> the
> difference is small and made up for by its other characteristics. I
> didnt
> get to do much real "surfing" because the waves were so wild that they
> caused almost instant broaching, but it handled that very well. It
> seemed
> to blow downwind a bit (the bow) during stronger gusts, but the seat
> is
> adjustable and moving it might correct that.
> 
> I bought the low volume version, and if you have big feet you'd
> probably be
> better off with a larger model. I have size 7 1/2 feet and they fit
> comfortably, but  My friend (who also bought a new medium volume and
> now
> has two) said it was too small for his feet. It has enough room for
> tripping if you are a light traveller, but if you like to bring a lot
> of
> gear you might want a larger model (the low volume is rated at 210 lbs
> including gear and paddler). Since most of my paddling is day trips,
> surfplay and overnight trips, the low volume will work great for me,
> for now.
> 
> I paddled it briefly in relatively flat water, and was very happy with
> its
> performance again. It tracks very well, and when the side wind picked
> up a
> small amount of skeg corrected for that easily, although I realize
> that
> using it is a sign of my failure as A Compleat Paddler. I say "so
> what" and
> my wimpy RSI wrists and shoulders were happy I did. I didnt even feel
> tippy
> in it at all, as a matter of fact it feels more stable in bigger
> waves.
> Anyway, I love it so far, let me know if you have any more questions.
> BTW,
> my friend who bought his second one (medium volume) will probably be
> selling one of them in the next few months. 
> 
> Overall, I think the construction quality is better than my Romany
> too.
> Perfect gelcoat, no dings or bubbles, plenty of clearance for the
> skirt,
> DRY hatches, and of course that wonderful P&H skeg. I dont care for
> the
> pinholes in the bulkheads (to equalize pressure), but thats easily
> fixed.
> 
> I was hoping to get more experience paddling it on flatwater tomorrow,
> but
> it looks like some more 5-8 footers are heading down the chute. Rats.
> ;-) 
> 
> Wayne
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