Walt Levins wrote >After reading what Sandy Kramer said about her experiences with folding >boats (Folbots specifically) I'm now leery of purchasing one. Maybe I should >buy a hardshell. I don't want to be left behind. I was thinking of buying a >15' 1" Nautiraid1, but now I fear it might be too slow. (Walt Levins) Tim wrote >I think, however, that people are too quick to blame the boat. I suspect >most people are limited in their speed by their paddling technique -- not >the boat. So pick a relatively narrow folding boat and spend some time with >a "stroke doctor" to get the speed you need. Felt guilty on reading the above messages as I've several times suggested that my highly regarded Klepper was slow - The problem was the paddler (me) not the boat. Learning better technique made a huge difference. Although the Klepper folding boat is not as fast as the fastest hardshells and not as fast as a Feathercraft K1 or Khatsalano - It can certainly keep up with most hardshells. And in rough weather its near the head of the pack! (I knew this in theory because its all in Ralph's book. I just had to learn how to paddle better to realise it in practise!). A more important consideration for me was speed of assembly and packing. Although the Klepper is not as fast to paddle as a K1 it used to be a lot faster to assemble. Has this changed? Does anyone have an opinion on the assembly and packing time for the latest Feathercraft K1? or equivalent Nautiraid? I seem to remember that Folbots were about the fastest boats to assemble? (By the way and totally irrelevant - has anyone ever commented on the resemblance of an olive drab Klepper to a submarine? My paddling friends have dubbed me "UBoat Pete" for some reason!). PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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