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From: <JSpinner_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] RE: subjective evaluation of kayaks
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 13:27:17 EDT
In a message dated 5/11/01 1:10:51 PM, gulfstream_at_flinet.com writes:





<< The trick would be to describe the features and functionality of a boat 


without being subjective. Then have a totally subjective what I like and 


don’t like about this boat section. >>


Trick is the operative word here. 


    You can go to the listings and see the attributes of just about every 


boat made. You can't really talk objectively about things like the feel of 


the boat on edge or even the stability of a boat without so many exceptions 


it become babble. That or that thing SK does with its heeling/righting 


whatever that I never have quite figure out. (I admit I haven't tried real 


hard either.) The questions we get the most are from new/er padders. We seem 



to need to break it into different questions.


    What will serve the needs of a new paddler who doesn't really know the 


jargon as opposed to the paddler who has been paddling long enough to know 


the real meaning of the jargon and can actually follow a discussion between 


Matt and John.


    This sounds like a huge amount of work, though it is fun to think about. 



I've wished there was a decent single source of information. Bob, are you 


volunteering <G>.





Joan


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From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] RE: subjective evaluation of kayaks
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 15:39:51 EDT
Joan Spinner: ... Bob, are you volunteering ?

Ralph Hoehn: If Bob will I might ... anyone else? Joan?

Best regards,
Ralph

Ralph C. Hoehn
Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com
www.PouchBoats.com

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From: ralph diaz <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] RE: subjective evaluation of kayaks
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 19:27:56 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com>

> Joan Spinner: ... Bob, are you volunteering ?
>
> Ralph Hoehn: If Bob will I might ... anyone else? Joan

I don't know about you, Ralph, on this.  You sell kayaks or want to anyway.
That is what most venues that offer reviews try to avoid.  I am sure you are
convinced that you are objective but...  Now, some people who make and sell
kayaks may be above reproach such as Matt Broze who has been at it a long
time and well established for honesty and shooting straight; but I bet even
he would hesitate to do reviews except privately or stick to real objective
stuff like what he has done with hundreds of boats he has measured against
objective criteria such as length etc or which he measures for sprint speed
on a standard course he has set out long ago.  You are hungry to make an
impact and it sometimes shows in your posts.  Anyway that is my opinion and
observation.

ralph diaz

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From: Bob Denton <gulfstream_at_flinet.com>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] RE: subjective evaluation of kayaks
Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 14:57:54 -0400
If there is interest in developing a review methodology I'm game!

> 
> Ralph Hoehn: If Bob will I might ... anyone else? Joan?

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From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] RE: subjective evaluation of kayaks
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 09:37:46 EDT
In a message dated 5/11/01 7:27:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ralph diaz 
rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com writes:

> I don't know about you, Ralph [Hoehn], on this.  You sell kayaks or want to 
> anyway. That is what most venues that offer reviews try to avoid.  I am 
> sure you are convinced that you are objective but...  Now, some people who 
> make and sell kayaks may be above reproach [SNIP] You are hungry to make an 
> impact and it sometimes shows in your posts. Anyway that is my opinion and 
> observation. 

Woah there, Ralph! I always value your opinion ... well, perhaps a little 
less than usual in this instance. ;-)

My tentative offer to join in a potential Paddlewise review project referred 
merely to mechanical number crunching (little scope for partiality in that 
:-) if it were required because something like the procedure outlined in my 
post "Neutralizing the subjectivity of evaluation of kayaks" actually were to 
come into being. Since the level of elegance of the title directly reflects 
the level of straight forward simplicity of the idea (neither level very high 
in this stage of development), I suspect that we may not go very far with it 
anyway.

I'm sorry that my posting the "offer" and the "outline" out of sequence 
caused confusion here -- I started the latter before the former, but only 
finished it during my evening commute and thus sent it later.

Best regards,
Ralph

Ralph C. Hoehn
Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com
www.PouchBoats.com


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