Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker Reviews

I tend to agree with Ralph, the boat reviews in sea kayaker are namby pamby,
criticise only minor points and often flag up silly details that are easily
modified if desired or largely irrelevant. All of them are positive, and in
certain circumstances the comments by the reviewers are utter rubbish, and
likely to mislead. Take for example the review of the P&H poly Capella, a
boat I've owned for four years and am very familiar with. the reviewers
thought:

	'The excellent cockpit and knee braces made control easy'

I think: the cockpit is way too big, and the knee braces suck.

Fair enough - personal preference and maybe the knee braces are better than
some other so called sea kayaks, but there is no way that a manufacturer
would get away with thigh braces like the poly capella's in a white water
boat. Not easy to modify them either (although I assure you it can be done
:-). As I read the review I'm thinking these reviewers are not familiar with
either well designed sea kayak thigh braces, or white water boats which set
the standard.

Further on the reviewers thought:

	'The foredeck sheds water well and doesn't throw spray'

I say, rubbish! I'm now wondering what sort of conditions the reviewers were
actually paddling in, because this boat is wet, the square front hatch cover
in particular throwing a lot of spray, directly in your face usually.

I was particularly surprised by the reviewers comments about the deck
rigging:

	'VS and CC noted that the shock cords behind the cockpit cross under a deck
fitting on the centreline. The deck fitting gets in the way of slipping a
paddle bade under the shock cord for a paddle float rescue. They recommend
loosening the recessed deck fitting and releasing the bungies from it.'

I say VS and CC (whoever their anonymous selves may be) should have realised
that the rear shock cords were designed to carry spare paddles (which they
do superbly I might add). Their 'recommendation' effectively prevents the
cappela carrying spare paddles securely on the rear deck.   Maybe the
reviewers didn't realise that in the UK (where the boat is manufactured) the
wisdom of carrying spare paddles is widely appreciated, and belief in the
paddlefloat rescue minimal, but whatever their recomendation was ridiculous.

Sea kayaker mag exists to sell copy and advertising. My advice - don't even
think of buying a boat until you have paddled it and as many similar boats
as possible, ideally in a variety of conditions, loaded, empty etc etc.


Cheers


Colin

57º19'N  2º10'W

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