RE: [Paddlewise] Intro & recreational kayaks

At 08:44 AM 12/22/00 -0800, Hayes, Jeffrey D wrote:
>>> You may want to give some thought to purchasing and older white water 
>>> boat in lieu of the less capable recreational kayak.  The WW boat will do
>
>>> nearly everything better for less or similar cost and it will be 
>>> significantly more fun when you start to learn about boat handling.  
>
>OK, I'm a relative newbie to all this so all appropriate disclaimers up
>front.  Having said that, I'd like to question the "less capable" statement.
>Given that a skilled paddler could probably roll a bathtub, what exactly
>does "less capable" refer to?  In my observation demo'ing boats, I saw that
>I could edge an arcadia [insert generic rec boat name here] to the coaming
>without much more difficulty than my eclipse or the Looksha I tried.  I have
>no doubts that an arcadia could be rolled.  It could also be turned in place
>or just about any other kayak maneuver I've ever heard of.  The store I
>bought my kayak in told of a guy that used a Khatsalano for class 4+ rapids.
>I'm not trying to be difficult here.  I understand that this is all a
>question of degree and that skill can overcome a lot of obstacles.  But in
>the end, if a rec boat makes a new paddler feel more comfortable, does it
>really matter?  

Here's my take on it.

First of all I consider the Acadia (note spelling) to be a slight
step up from most "recreational" kayaks.  When I think of a "recreational"
kayak it's a bit shorter, a bit wider, and has a flatter hull.  While,
I believe that some people can roll almost any of the rec boats I doubt
that there are few people that could *learn* to roll in one.  Recreational
kayaks also tend to have very roomy kayaks, so unless the boat (or the
paddler) is well padded, it's difficult to get contact with you're
knees and hips, which will not only make it difficult to roll, but even
difficult to stay in the cockpit while inverted.  

Aside from the rolling limitations, due to the loose fit, most 
recrationalal kayaks are "less capable" in terms of it's sensitivity
to the subtle movements that are acquired as skill levels improve.
A boat with very high initial stability requires a substantial weight
shift/lifting of the knee/cock of the hip to get it on edge.  That
makes them a lot more forgiving of "too much lean", but as a paddlers
skills improve and they gain better control of their paddling muscles,
a boat that is more sensitive to those subtle moves will be appreciated.

>I've also been studying the issue of "kayak speed" recently.  My end
>conclusion is that in the hands of 2 olympic paddlers, one might observe
>hull speed differences between most common kayaks.  But for the vast
>majority of the rest of us, I have my suspicions that this is also mythical.

I haven't been paddling that long and I can certainly tell the
difference between even a couple of similar kayaks in terms of
kayak speed.  I've also paddled over a 100 different models.



***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************