Re: [Paddlewise] Sea Kayaker Reviews

Kevin wrote:

(SNIP)

>
> I disagree that a subjective review has no value, as you seem to state.

I didn't state that they had no value I said, "Any review with a subjective
component has diminished value at best and no value at worst." Which do you
find more useful, the length of a boat as measured or the statement "It is a
long boat." ?


>In
> sea kayaks, there are matters of safety as well as personal preference.

Whose personal preference? Yours or the reviewer's whom you don't know
anything about? If you want a personal opinion, why not accept the builders'
opinion? At least you can call him up and ask him to clarify details. Try
calling a Sea Kayaker reviewer to find out if he had a spat with his/her
spouse before testing the boat, or hates yellow boats, or had haemorrhoids
when testing the seat or,....
.
>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.

Useful if accurate but how do you how the accuracy of the opinions? I would
not consider the observation of a leaking boat a subjective opinion. On the
other hand, how much weathercocking constitutes "weathercocking". Actually,
your "opinion " about skegs and rudders jamming and breaking "often" reveals
the failure in opinions since some  people in this list have argued just the
opposite.  Whose opinion should we believe?


(SNIP)

>
> 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)?

As the displacement changes stability, form coefficients, waterline length,
waterline beam,  etc. etc. etc. change.  As a consequence the boat no longer
performs as designed. Depending on what expert you talk to, some can notice
very small differences in performance. Many believe they can paddle two
different boats on different days and know which has more resistance etc.
etc. etc.

It has nothing to do with the "leeway" in my designs. It has to do with the
changes in immersed hull of any boat. Do you think you would notice a
difference in your own boats performance  if you paddled it with say, +/-
20% in displacement? Do you think it fair to test a 12' waterline kayak at
325 pounds of displacement  and compare the results with a 16' waterline
kayak at the same displace?

(SNIP)

>
> 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

What do you call  "expensive" and how  much would you like to bet? :-)

Cheers,

John Winters
Redwing Designs
Web site address http://home.ican.net/~735769




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