Wendy, I had a Khats S, which I have since sold, and have a new Khats on order. I have demoed the K1. I am 5'6," 140, so about the same size as you. I have paddled all the boats you have except the flatwater racing, which I probably would find tres tipsy. I find it hard to give definite advise to anyone about boat selections unless I can really have a dialogue with them about the relative importance they place on the various aspects you mention, plus other points. However, I will give you my input. Feel free to ask as many questions afterwards as you like. > > Expedition K1 -- pros -- lots of storage room, very stable > cons -- is the boat too big for me -- I'm 5 foot 3 inches and a small to > medium build. 25 inch beam sounds pretty big to me and I'm afraid I might > swim in it. The K1 might feel a bit large in fit for you, but not all that bad. That might be the price you pay if you want to take the kitchen sink on high-latitude extended trips, though. The K1 now has optional bracing bars which can be installed to give positive thigh bracing, like the ones in the Khats, so you should (with your booster cushion) be able to make the boat comfortable for yourself. With the width, though, you will not have the feel of on-edge performance that you can get out of your narrow Solstice boats. Much more storage though. > Khatsalano -- 22 inches -- too advanced??? After paddling the racers???? No way. With the sponsons inflated, stability is similar to the SS or GTS. With no air in the sponsons, it will be more tender than the Solstices but more stable than the racer. You will quickly adjust. Storage relative to the K1 is less, but more than in the SS or GTS. I think the width difference between the Khats and Khats S is not in the frame, but only in the cut of the skin and the size of the inflated sponsons, so storage should be close between the two. > Khatsalano S -- 23.5 inches -- Is there enough room for a two-week arctic > kayak expedition, also assuming if I was doing a trip, there'd be at least > someone else so we're sharing some of the gear. Right amount of stability > that I will reach a certain comfort level -- I don't have to do headstands > in the boat! Get a copy of the list of equipment Doug Simpson took in the Khats on his 3-week Canadian shakedown cruise (possibly available on their website, or ask them to mail it to you). That should tell you whether the boat will carry your sink or not. He got a LOT of gear in that boat. The Khats, and especially the Khats S, are a lot more stable than some people make them sound. At your height, and with your experience, you should find them comfortable, and their speed will be closer to what you are used to in the SS/GTS. The Khats will pack a lot of gear and is definitely more fun as a day-boat. The K! is a lot more stable and will carry even more gear, but will feel large to you. If you can make it to one of the symposiums, call FC to see if they'll have the boats there, and go try them out. They are a major investment and might even warrant a pre-purchase rental through one of the companies that ship rental Feathercraft. Hope this helps, Harold So Cal *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 27 2000 - 01:23:24 PST
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