I would appreciate a little feedback from some of the Greenland style paddlers out there on the list. I am 5'-7.5" tall, 145 lbs and am currently paddling an Artic Hawk. It is 22" wide, has the 24" long cockpit, and the inside depth of the cockpit at the front is 10.75". With the 24" cockpit my front hand at the end of the stroke is actually a couple of inches in front of the cockpit. I have been test paddling some other boats and have run into a problem with most of them. For the one's with the 29"-31" cockpits, if the cockpit depth is 12" or greater, I either hit my knuckles or have to change my stroke to the point that it feels more like Euro-touring stroke (more vertical, not as much paddle in the water, and top hand just below eyelevel). Questions: 1. Can a person my size still effectively use Greenland technique with these deeper, longer cockpits? 2. Does it sound like I am currently keeping my hands too low for proper technique? 3. Is there anything to watch for to tell if the deeper cockpit is changing the stroke enough to make a significant difference in my efficiency? 4. Would having a shorter cockpit (like the 20" on some of the Valley kayaks) allow for keeping the lower hand position that I am use to even if they are deeper than the 10.75" in the Hawk? (I do not want to make a 3-4 day trip to test paddle one of these if its not likely to be any different than the boats I have tried). 5. I am looking for a more manuverable (better suited to surfing) kayak than the Arctic Hawk. The only ones that I found with lower cockpits are the Mariner Elan-10.75" and the Dagger Meridian SK-S -11.25" (a cutdown version of the Meridian SK). Are there some other's out there that I should be considering? 6. What are the cockpit depths for the Valley Pintail and Avocet? I would appreciate any information you could give me. Mark J. Arnold *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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