I borrowed a friends Beluga for a couple of weeks, the basic model without bulkheads. I paddled it quite a bit. In the end, a gust of wind blew me over and the boat sank and hovered just inches under water (no flotation). My pointy of reference is CD Squall (22 inch wide) and a Necky Looksha IV. The Beluga is an interesting boat - it is small and portable but can keep up with touring boats. It is a great extra boat for when you don't want to load/unload you 17 footer. The boat is wider behind the cockpit (diamond shape)and has reverse rocker - the center is high and the ends curve downward. This high center of gravity makes the boat EXTREMELY tippy - a gust of wind will blow it over. It becomes stable with speed. You ride much higher, making rolls more difficult (the distance between water and paddle is greater). I would only use this boat for lakes and slow moving rivers - it is a handful in anything else and would require constant bracing to stay upright. It is FAST for its size and a good day tripper. Funny looking boat though! Hope this helps! Tim Paddling in the Ozarks *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Aug 14 2000 - 06:27:35 PDT
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