Mark Arnold asked: <SNIP> >>>>6. What are the cockpit depths for the Valley Pintail and Avocet?<<<<SNIP> I have 12" for both, but these aren't measurements I did myself so they may be total depth rather than inside cockpit depth, but I don't know that for sure. Also, a German magazine listed the Pintail at 11.4" (29cm). Greg Stamer <gstamer_at_magicnet.net> answered Mark J. Arnold: >>>>Mark, I have the same problem. I am 5'11" and 170 pounds and find that the current commercial offerings of "pseudo SW Greenland kayaks" are simply too big and fat for my tastes. I have always wondered why 21 inches is considered "narrow" in the current kayak market. Perhaps designers fear that anything smaller would appeal to such a small group of paddlers to be a worthwhile return on investment. <BIG SNIP> If I had to buy a new commercial kayak then my (current) personal favorite is Nigel Foster's Silhouette as it works quite well for many Greenland-style techniques although it is not as maneuverable as the Anas Acuta or Pintail. YMMV, give them all a try and formulate your own conclusions.<<<<< Our original kayak was 20.5" wide. Now the narrowest is 21.5" wide. I too like the performance and handling of Nigel Foster's Silhouette, Shadow, and Legend so when I finally got the chance to become a dealer 3.5 years ago I jumped at it. The Silhouettes' have helped teach me that as a retailer (as well as, as a designer) I have to pay attention at least as much to what my customers will buy as I do to what I personally like. I've still got two Silhouettes w/skegs in stock that I have had for nearly 3 years now (even though the prices are now down to less than wholesale on them). Anybody want to make me an offer? I almost traded one for a well used Titanium Mtn. Bike a few months ago. If Cam and I could have agreed on which hand worked which brake on a bike (or who got the bike) we would have probably made the trade. Got to run off to Nigel's birthday party now, bye. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Oct 17 2000 - 20:00:46 PDT
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