The Mirage is a larger cousin (by 10 inches) of the Hobie Pursuit. I owned one before I got the K-Light. It is a nice boat and I paddled in the ocean and stayed upright OK although it was more work than the K-Light. It weighed 47 lbs and was only 12 feet long by 28" wide. The width is deceiving though since the actual hull is about 8 inches narrower with a flange which sticks our about 4-5" on each side. For most people, this is not in the water. With my 230 lb body, it was in the water about 1/2 inch. I think the flange effect gives improved secondary stability. It is pretty fast and I kept up with other kayakers although I had to work harder. The Mirage is inherently faster and the penguin flippers about double the speed or more. They could out run me with just the flippers. Paddling and peddling gave them more than double my speed. I think that is the first time I saw an actual mini-rooster tail behind a kayak. They are pretty easy to flip though and I saw a man trying to re-enter a Pursuit about 4 times without success. I was told that over the side is the way but just a little off balance and your continue clear over. Definitely a warm weather boat. I always wore a shortie wet suit and was always wet, even though I only spilled once and that in 2 ft of water at a surf launch. They are attracting lots of folks to kayaking though. Some stay in SOTs and some move on. J My lilypad pictures are on my website (see below) =^..^= --Mel-- Mel Lammers mslammers_at_earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~mslammers *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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