Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker Reviews

At 08:13 AM 8/13/00 -0400, John Winters wrote:
>Some years back I complained to Sea Kayaker about their reviews and told
>them (as well as the builders of my kayak designs) that I had no interest in
>the magazine ever testing my boats. I still feel that way even though they
>use a formula for resistance that I developed.
>
>I have the following problems with their tests:
>
>1. I design a boat to suit a market the builder perceives. I know of few
>kayakers (actually none, including myself) with enough understanding of the
>marketplace, kayaks and design to comment appropriately on someone else's
>design. Any review with a subjective component has diminished value at best
>and no value at worst. Unfortunately one can't tell which.

I disagree that a subjective review has no value, as you seem to state. In 
sea kayaks, there are matters of safety as well as personal preference. Any 
moderately experienced paddler can determine them. For instance, 
weathercocking (with and without a skeg/rudder device) is essential safety 
information. Skegs get jammed and rudders break often enough that I want a 
boat that doesn't weathercock without them. Also, the quality of 
construction is a safety issue. For instance, a recent boat that I tested 
had seams that leaked and deck rigging that ripped off the boat under 
strain. If I was in the market for a new kayak, I would consider such 
information alone quite valuable.



>2. Each of my kayaks gets designed for a specific weight range. Sea Kayaker
>blindly ignores this in their reviews. I can think of nothing less useful
>than to test a boat at a displacement 20%  to 30% and more above or below
>its designed displacement. Why don't we test sports cars to see how much
>gravel they can carry or dump trucks for their acceleration from 0 - 60?


I am curious why feel so strongly about this. What are the specific 
problems associated with paddling at the wrong displacement? It would help 
me to think about the problem if you would give us a numerical example 
using one of your kayaks. What are the inherent problems that a practical 
test might spuriously encounter. How much leeway is there in your designs, 
given differing body weights and differing loads  (day vs multi-day)?


>3. Sea Kayaker uses no standardized tests  for handling. I sent them a
>series
>of standardized tests to use and they told me they did not have time to use
>them in their testing. So much for objectivity.

How much would your tests cost? If they require specialized equipment, I 
bet they would be expensive. Sure it would be nice to have someone spending 
a lot of money to test kayaks, but it is not really necessary for Sea 
Kayaker to do that and still keep their review quality far better than 
average.

Kevin


Kevin Whilden
Your Planet Earth
http://www.yourplanetearth.org
(206) 788-0281 (ph)
(206) 788-0284 (f)

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