Dear Friends: As my kayaking abilities have improved (I only started in November), I have begun to think about buying a boat. I am learning about design and reading a lot, particularly on Paddlewise. My ONLY experience has been in the NDK Romany Explorer 18 (I hope to paddle many other boats this summer when I will be on the US West Coast). People who paddle these and other British boats are extremely chauvinistic about them; they are characterized as high-end, high-performance, the most durable, the most seaworthy, and the only boats worthy of the accomplished paddler. They do not use rudders; a skeg maybe. My club, in planning a trip to Alaska, will only use British boats. Many things have been nagging at me regarding these boats. It is my understanding (I do this with the utmost humility in this forum, please...), that these boats tend to be sportier; by this I mean that they are: Narrow (& tippy), relatively fast, good tracking (slow to turn) low volume (less windage/less cargo), snug-fitting (more control/less comfortable) & extremely durable (& heavy) all of which adds up to an extremely seaworthy craft that requires effort and skill to pilot and enjoy. While American boats tend to be: Wide (& stable), slower, maneuverable (poor tracking) higher volume (more cargo/more windage, loose fitting (more comfortable/less control) & light (but somewhat fragile) all of which adds up to a very comfortable craft for gentle waters that requires little skill to pilot and none to enjoy. (The above characterizations are those of a Paddlewiser who back channeled me a while ago -- he remains anonymous since I have not asked his permission to post his comments.). In looking on the WWW for places to rent kayaks, I have seen that most places really require very little in the way of proof of skills from clients. There are places that offer tours in kayaks with no experience at all. Now, in the NDK boat I have learned on, I would NEVER send someone out except on the most placid of lakes. I would not put them on the sea. But could it be possible that (some?) American kayaks (I'm talking about singles) are SO stable that one could send someone out in the chop with no problem? Now, IF this is true, that American kayaks are more stable, WHO NEEDS BRITISH KAYAKS? If we are so concerned with safety, why have a tippy boat at all? I THINK I know the answer to this: is it that the skilled paddler will enjoy a "sportier" boat more because it is simply more fun (and not really less safe in the hands of a skilled paddler)? Is the following analogy correct: A skilled driver would much rather drive a Porsche than Mack truck, although the truck is certainly better in an accident and more stable on the road? Please excuse any crass generalizations about British vs. American; it may be that many American boats have these "British" characteristics. If so, I'd appreciate a list of which boats do. All the best, Josh in Israel (who has his first rolling clinic tomorrow, and is hopeful that he will be able to, but trying to be disappointed if he can't) ============================================================================== Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Research Fellow Tel: [972] 3-640-6448 Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and Fax: [972] 3-641-5802 African Studies Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978 Israel E-mail:teitelba_at_ccsg.tau.ac.il www.dayan.org ============================================================================== *************************************************************************** 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 Sun May 14 2000 - 01:36:27 PDT
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