Re: [Paddlewise] A good, plastic, double kayak

At 01:15 PM 9/26/01 +0200, Joshua Teitelbaum wrote:
>Dear Friends:
>
>Our kayak club is interested in purchasing a high-quality, plastic double, 
>the kind that you can put beginners in and not have them tip out (and 
>least right away!).  We want plastic to minimize maintenance, since the 
>thing will get abused like hell.
>
>Has anyone had experience with the Current Designs "Crosswind?"
>
>Any recommendations?

Up until a couple of years ago there really wasn't much available for a 
plastic tandem touring kayak that had what I consider to be acceptable 
performance.

There are a couple of things that I would consider if you're looking at 
purchasing one.  Awhile back I was looking at my kayak database and found 
something kind of interesting.  When looking up tandem kayaks in plastic 
the longest boat in the list was 18' long (Necky Amaruk).  However, when I 
changed the criteria to search for fiberglass boats the *shortest* was 
about 18'.  That seemed to indicate to me that the plastic boats were 
targeted toward the more recreational paddler (due to their cost), while 
the glass boats were targeted to those that were looking for more 
performance or would actually use the boat for actual touring.

While the longer length is certainly going to increase performance, it also 
has the advantage of allowing the cockpits to be placed further apart, 
making it much easier for beginners to paddle that might have trouble 
keeping their strokes in sync.

I'm not sure that stability will be much of an issue for any of the tandems 
worth considering.  Pretty much every tandem kayak that I have been in has 
been very stable, much more so than almost any single kayak.

Something else worth considering is the bulkhead arrangement.  I'd stay 
away from anything which didn't have at least two bulkheads unless you're 
going to fill it with float bags.

I don't have a lot of experience with tandem kayaks but I make a couple of 
recommendations which you can take with a grain of salt.

The Necky Amaruk is a very nice tandem boat for a rental or club fleet.  At 
18' long, 28.5" wide it is a good compromise between performance and 
stability.  I have seen them in several rental fleets and even the most 
nervous first time paddlers have little trouble.  In my second day in a 
touring kayak another neophyte and I were able to paddle it while on edge 
with confidence and even do simultaneous hip snaps off the bows of two 
kayaks.  The old rudder system was a bit clunky but it looks like they've 
improved it. At least the ones I've seen had 3 bulkheads.  The center one 
could be removed and a center hatch installed.

The Current Designs "Crosswind" looks like a good boat too.  It's 6" longer 
than the Amaruk and 1.5" wider.  As I have not actually paddled one I can't 
comment on how it performs, however, it only has two bulkheads.

Wilderness Systems also makes a boat called a Northstar (18'4" LOA, 29.5" 
beam) that is likely similar to the Amaruk and Crosswind.  The deck 
outfitting looks a little more finished (with recessed fittings) than the 
others and it has two bulkheads, and a center day hatch bag standard.

The most interesting looking plastic tandem that I have seen (only from 
their web site) is the Boreal Designs Esperanto.  It's 19'6" long (the 
longest of any plastic tandems available) and 28'6" wide.  It comes 
standard with two bulkheads and hatches and has an optional full size hatch 
that implies two additional bulkheads.  It also implies that there is 
likely a little more space between the cockpits.  It's also the sleekest 
looking plastic tandem I've seen.

Hope that gives you some ideas.



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