Hi, I would like to add a few comments supporting Peter Treby's email. As people on Paddlewise would have read, I am paddling from Bellingham to Juneau starting about May 23. Our website is http://www.ozwebdesign.com.au/adventure2002 ... just to give you some background info and to refresh some memories. We considered 2 boats for the trip.... Mirage 580 and a Pittarak.... both made in Australia. After about 3 months of consideration we chose the Pittarak for this trip. The reasons.... well I want to make it clear that either kayak would be suitable for the trip.. no doubts... but we couldnt each take 2 boats.....and I must add that the reason I am including the Pittarak in this topic is to give a comparism when analysing the Mirage 580. I know Paul... the bloke who owns Mirage... a good fella. The Mirage has slightly more storage space... it is 580cm long..... the Pittarak is 500cm long. The hatches on the Pittarak (especially the rear hatch) are superior to the hatches on the Mirage (although the rear hatch on the Mirage is larger). Superior .. I mean more water resistant... the Pittarak rear hatch is triple seamed (I think that this is what it is called). The rudder on the Mirage is fixed.. it is intregrated into the hull shape and cannot be removed from the water... making it tricky for rock/beach landings. The rudder on the Mirage also protrudes beneath the bottom of the kayak.... making it more susceptible to damage. The Pittarak rudder is attached to the boat by a "sock" ... making it far less likely to be damaged and can be retracted from the water while sitting in the cockpit. The rudder can be easily and quickly removed from the boat if you want a rudderless kayak. The Mirage is a faster boat. The Mirage has a large oval shaped cockpit which allows a relatively easy re-entry when the boat is upright in the water (you can simply sit in the seat AND THEN...... put your feet below deck.... the cockpit IS that big)... the problem I found was that when bracing with the knees, the knees would be pressing against the underside of the coaming (quiet painful) and when inverted (underwater) performing an eskimo roll... I would have a tendancy to "fall out of the kayak". The Pittarak cockpit is small, and bracing is relatively easy. I feel as though I am "part of the kayak" ... and it is easy to hip flick and manouver... the kayak feels more responsive (Iget more feedback), but it is not as easy to re-enter the kayak as abovementioned. The Pittarak "looks" as though it is a stronger kayak....... stronger lines, thicker keel line (Larry Gray used the Inuit kayaks as inspiraion when designing the Pittarak) ..... the Mirage is a more slender, kayak. IMVHO the Mirage is a recreational kayak (of high quality finish), whereas the Pittarak is more "hard core.... heavy duty", expedition style boat. If you are interested in buying an Aussie boat then I would be happy to show you our Pittaraks (if you happen to be en-route). We are also going to have our Pittaraks at Seaward kayaks for a couple of days but the dates have not been confirmed as yet. DISCLAIMER: I have no financial or other wise benefit in Pittarak Kayaks. The sole reason that Pittarak Kayaks appear as sponsors on our website is due to the fact that Bruce Richards (Pittarak International) has helped us out with solar power systems and heaps of expediton advice. Regards, Peter Relf. *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Mar 29 2002 - 08:53:10 PST
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