ralph diaz wrote: <SNIP>>>>>>The Puffin moves at about the speed of the Folbot Aleut, a mini folding kayak. Probably one of the mini-Nautiraids would also be in the general range of the Puffin. But on these comparisons, I am working from memory as I have not paddled an Aleut nor the small Nautiraid in years. The Puffin is at about half the weight of the Aleut (literature says 39 but it is probably closer to 34 now) and 15 pounds lighter than the small Nautiraid.<<<<<<< Are you talking about the 14' Puffin II? I paddled the 10'4" Puffin about a year ago. The owner really liked it but it was sure not my "cup of tea". The advertising said it weighed 19 lbs., My scale said 21 lbs., still a pretty impressive weight. It might be nicer on a river as tracking was minimal. It took me 52 seconds to sprint it the length of my test course. For comparison, a Nautiraid Alu 14 Expedition took 42 seconds, A 15'1" Raid I took 40 seconds, the 12'6" Miniraid took 45 seconds. The fastest fiberglass single sea kayak I've tested on this course (Seda Glider) took 34 seconds and the average of 138 fiberglass and plastic North American touring/sea and rec. designs I tested was 38 seconds. The 9'8" Stearns K-116 inflatable (~30 lbs.) took me 58 seconds and both turned slightly quicker and tracked much better than the 10'4" Puffin. Ralph, I suspect you tested the 14' Puffin II double as a single. My sprint numbers for Feathercrafts were K-1--38sec., Khatsalano S--37, K-Lite--44, Kahuna--40. That all said, unless you are pushing at top speed my sprint numbers don't mean much. Of course, if your kayak's top speed is less than the average touring speed of your paddling partners you won't keep up with them no matter how strong you are. Matt Broze, who is a lot less shaken-up than one might think (especially those who watch the extreme but isolated examples of damage featured on the news). The old Sears building (Starbucks) did not fall down as someone suggested here, but some bricks in the upper railing fell many stories and did some damage at the bottom of the building. http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Mar 01 2001 - 16:50:14 PST
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