I own 2 Crossovers, one of which is currently for sale. Discontinued in the Dagger line-up, Perception now sells it under the name Enduro. Same boat sans the hurricane hatch cover. The Blackwater (we'll consider the Blackwater 12.5 here), is more rec boat with its bigger cockpit and flat bottom. The Crossover has a hull designed for low end white water. The Crossover is comfortable in Class II waters and will run Class III with a competent paddler. It is NOT a boat to play in holes with, more a river runner. The Blackwater is a better flatwater boat as it tracks better and the drop down skeg is operable from the cockpit. The Crossover skeg requires one to unscrew it and remount it. You either have to put out to do so or have a partner do it for you. I consider the Crossover skeg an emergency device only. It does assist tracking when paddling the windy flatwaters but I never use it in the rivers. Both boats need a new butt band and bow flotation. The Crossover has a nice pillar support under the fore deck to avoid entrapment, thus it uses split air bags. The Blackwater uses a single large bow bag. While the two boats appear similar, the hull shapes are quite different. The Blackwater has higher primary stability but the Crossover will run circles around it in the secondary plane. The Crossover provides an amazingly dry ride through Class IIs and the cockpit allows for an effective skirt fitment. The Crossover rolls very nicely while the Blackwater is more work to bring up. The Blackwater is also harder to stay in with the large cockpit opening. I use my Crossovers on western rivers (U.S.), and they work great for overnighters. Kind of like the Hummer of the kayak world. Diversion dams that I portage my sea kayak around are simply a high point when paddling the Crossover. While I adore all my boats, if I were limited to but one kayak it would be either a Crossover or the Prijon Expedition. Jacks of all trades while masters of none! Pleasant waters to you. ~~Holmes Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger *************************************************************************** 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 May 26 2004 - 06:27:11 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:15 PDT