Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker Reviews

on 8/13/00 2:53 PM, Colin Calder at c.j.calder_at_abdn.ac.uk wrote:

> 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.
snip

I'd just like to make one point about personal preferences (often related to
body size and build, paddling style, and experience level just to mention a
few).  The following, I believe, would be an example of what Matt Broze was
getting at when the made the statement about "fatal flaws" _ (quoting Matt
now, after a big snip, this was his concluding sentence)  "I'm not sure how
to correct this though because my "fatal flaws" might not bother you at all
and visa-versa". 

Colin, for you, the knee braces in the poly Capella suck but for me they
worked fine.  I paddled a poly Capella for one year and it fit me good
without any custom modifications.  I could consistently hand roll this boat
and never had any comfort problems.  I always custom outfit my kayaks,
whitewater and sea kayaks and I've helped numerous others outfit their
kayaks (For five years I've been teaching classes and workshops for local
clubs and at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium.)  When I got the Capella I
planned on custom outfitting it as soon as I had some free time but since I
never had any issues (comfort or performance) I ended up just leaving it.  I
have to agree with you that the cockpit size did not need to be so large.
For me the "fatal flaw" with the poly Capella was the weight.  Way to heavy,
but to be expected with a plastic kayak.  I built a 32 pound skin boat 2 1/2
years ago, sold the Capella and never looked back.

On the subject of the "Design Statement" in the Sea Kayaker magazine reviews
I have to admit I sometimes just read them for the amusement factor.  For
example take the April 2000 review of the Avalon Viviane by Kajak Sport.
The Design Statement written by Phil Wong, Global Outfitters, Distributor:
"Even in windy and rough conditions, it glides quickly and smoothly through
the waves almost as efficiently as a plane propels through the atmosphere."
This is advertising hype that is not useful.  The same with, "and it remains
remarkably maneuverable at all times."  Some of the other information I
would find useful, it's been around for a few years, it was designed by
someone who races, it's had many racing successes including the marathon
Artic Sea Kayaking Race in Norway.

Rex   


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