Re: [Paddlewise] River Runners, was: accident scenerio

At 05:38 PM 8/11/00 -0400, B00jum! wrote:
>Mark writes:
> > 
> > again, it is mainly a matter of semantics, but in colorado, where there is
> > an extreme variety of water available to paddle, we recognize 3-4 types of
> > kayak, recreational [kiwi's etc], whitewater [sub 12 footers], touring
> > [12-16 ft], andd sea kayaks [16 foot+] ... the prijon yukon expedition is
> > an extremely popular boat in colorado.

Interesting.  I have my own breakdown of kayak types that goes a bit beyond
that.  One of the things that I've found is that "sea kayak" is become a
fairly nebulous term that often refers to a boat with a cockpit (or even a
sit-on-top) that is not a whitewater boat.  Here's how I personally
categorized kayaks.

Whitewater kayaks: (which can be broken down into rodeo, playboats,
downriver boats, creek boats...)  Generally they are 9' or shorter,
extremely manoeverable but won't track in a straight line, tight fitting
cockpit.

Recreational:  The Keowee/Kiwi et. al.  Typically  8-11' long, over 25-30"
wide, with a flat hull and a large open cockpit.  They're meant to be
paddled on a flat hull with no edging/leaning.
The boats often don't have bulkheads or hatches.

Short Touring:  boats in the 12-15' range like the Carolina, Walden
Passage, etc.  They're usually 23-25" wide and have a hull shaped more like
a "real" touring boat.  The fit is usually still fairly loose, but the
design is still good enough such that one can learn all the sea kayaking
skills in one.  Most have at least one bulkhead/hatch.

Touring:  Typically, 16' or longer.  A greater variety of hull shapes
(soft, hard, multi-chine) usually no more than 24" wide.  Two or more
bulkheads and hatch covers.

Expedition:  long and lean (18' or longer)

The Yukon Expedition is fairly unique in that it has all of the features of
a touring boat but is just shortened a bit and has optional end caps to
make it durable in whitewater conditions.  It would require a bit of skill
to paddle it safely on class III sections but it is quite manoeverable if
you've got the skills.

>
>Looking at Prijon I also see:
>
>Calabria (14' 5") http://www.wildnet.com/calabria.htm

Basically a scaled down Seayak from what I can tell.

>Beluga   (13' 9") http://www.wildnet.com/beluga.htm
>- the beluga intruiges me.  The hull design is modeled after some of
>thier racing craft.  Would this preclude it from being a river runner
>though? 

I've paddled a Beluga and from what I can tell it's intended environment is
on rivers and specifically for racing down rivers.  The closest equivalent
is the Perception Wavehopper.
It comes up to speed very fast and is able to maintain speed well.  It has
a lot of freeboard and feels like you're sitting very high in the water.
It's a really tippy boat and because it's so wide in the stern I found it
difficult to get it to turn even with an agressive low or high brace.
It would also be a good boat on flatwater for an aerobic workout.


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