Both Pygmy and CLC are both good companies. On points 1-3 they will be very equal. Point 4 is different. Pygmy puts a lot of time into R&D. Their kayaks handle quite well. They are strong trackers, weathercocking is not a problem on my Arctic Tern. They seem to like big water a lot. A friend of mine who paddles both a Pintail and an Osprey Std., says "Pygmys are good at helping keep paddlers out of trouble". They are very sea kindly. The one negative thing is that most Pygmys are designed for bigger people (kind of ironic). They are bigger boats designed to be able to haul a lot of gear. They work fine for day paddling, just like most production kayaks do. They don't have a longer low volume kayak yet. Their best models are the Arctic Tern and the Coho. I have heard comments that CLC has rushed a few designs into production. I don't think they are bad kayaks, but they could be better. Some of their designs weathercock quite a bit. They seem to have more variety in their designs, but the design quality is not there on some of their models. I paddled the North Bay last weekend, it is a neat boat, but it could use some refinement. There is a reason many people recommend a skeg with it. It is fast and nimble, but it does weathercock. I haven't paddled any kayaks in their Pax line-up so I can't comment on them. Your size is about right for most of the standard models from both companies. I have also heard very good things about Shearwater designs, but have not paddled any of their kayaks yet. I don't know about Roy Folland kayaks either, but it looks similar to a CLC. Mike >1. Reliability and support from the manufacturer. >2. Quality of the materials and manuals >3. Ease of construction >4. Design quality, i.e. how well does the boat handle, tracking, >weathercocking, etc. > >I'm looking for a sea kayak for day paddling and exercise, maybe some light >touring. I'm 5' 10", 195 lbs with good upper body strength. I would >appreciate any recommendations with this project. > >Dave _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jun 12 2002 - 09:41:51 PDT
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