Jennifer Joy wrote: All I know is that a coaster is build for a man, not a woman. In my limited experience every woman in my class (and not large women either) emerged from one of those with bruises. It is hard to get past that, when you can even adequately brace in a boat. The seat is horrible. I spent 5 painful days in one of those. It didn't feel fast to me, and it seems kind of wide to be comfy (heh, other than the seat, which was too narrow). I've decided fast is some emphemeral thing, and what I remember more are correction strokes! (I'm still learning.) But, with a proper seat, I might have a different perspective. :) And seats are changeable. So, are you the same guy whose surf video I bought? jen Yes, that's my video; note how many Coasters you see in it. I know several excellent women kaykers who paddle the Coaster (in fact, more women than men); Debrah Volturno comes to mind--she's a star in our new Ocean Rock Garden video. I don't think 23" is all that wide although I'd be happy with 22". But you make one excellent point--every kayak has to be outfitted to fit the individual paddler!! They have a wider seat available for that boat, but you'd still want foam all around for comfort and control. I'll post a separate e-mail on outfitting for sea kayaks, something that many kayakers ignore. I've also seen small women paddling huge kayaks, something that totally befuddles me. By the way, here's another can of worms: Did you know that a "corrective stroke" is 90% boat lean & 10% paddle stroke? Let's hear it on this one! John *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
(I will spare y'all my ire on having my private mail posted to the list, I guess I should just stick to writing those people I know. The Internet world has changed, and sometimes I forget that.) But since this has been put out there I want to correct someting: In my opinion, the problem with the coaster seat is not width, but these flat side pieces which come forward. If they flared, or ended sooner, they would be fine, but instead it causes those of us who (I guess) are too short, or something, to have to press our legs into the hard edges of the plastic seat when attempting to do what I call the basic whitewater boater position (bent legs, knees to deck, feet on footpegs). It is not fun. By the end of five days I could not even begin to try and lean the boat because it hurt so much, which made the weathercocking just a whole lot of fun to deal with. And because the boat is so wide, you really have to flare to get held in there. jennifer (I went to kayak school and got groovy bruises) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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