Re: [Paddlewise] New Folding Model

John Somers wrote:
> 
> Paddlewisers,
>         Nautiraid, the French company, now makes a relatively new model of folding
> kayak called the Raid 16.  This is a 16-foot 6-inch "Greenland style"
> single.  Anyone out there with any knowledge of this boat?  Ralph, any
> reviews or experience with it?
>         Thanks,
>         John Somers

I reviewed it in my newsletter back in the May/June issue.

A couple of things:

--the boat is about the third version of the Greenlander.  The original,
back in the 1980s was just 19 inches wide compared to around 27 inches
for this one.  That first one was extremely tippy and hard for anyone to
paddle.  In the early 1990s it became a 23 inch wide boat and then to
the present width.  Neither the 19 inch of 23 inch beam boat were sold
to any  great degree in the States.

The new one is _not_ a Greenland boat in the sense that the first one
was.  Too wide and not easy to lean.  The sponsons appear bigger than
even the regular single, the Raid 1.  The boat is pretty fast though and
tracks as if on rails.  It also is the second of the single Nautiraids
to get that unique way of assembly that was introduced in the Raid 14 (a
14 foot model that came out last year and which I reviewed earlier
also).  This method, which harkens back to something done in the early
days of folding kayaks back in the teens of this century, has the whole
frame assembled entirely outside the skin including the cockpit
coaming!  It eases assembly for those who have a problem with the
process.  The frame is then dropped in via a zippered back deck (two
overlapping zippers for redundancy and to be fail-safe) as well as an
overflap that is velcroed.  Extension of the frame is done by a wedge
device that is inserted at the stern and which pushes the stern piece
outward.  The method, its history, etc. was covered in an earlier issue
of the newsletter also.

The boat has its good sides.  Oh, the deck like a takeoff on Henry Ford
comes only in one color...white.  I asked the owner why...he said it was
to give a distinct look to the boat.  While it is white, the coatings on
the deck's polyester core are a vinyl material.  So it whips as clean as
would a kitchen table cloth.

If any one want to see a copy of my review, I can email the plain text. 
This would be minus sidebars and fotos but that is the easiest thing to
send.

ralph diaz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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