Re: [Paddlewise] Another Tiderace Review

Craig said (snip):
> How can designs with that sort of presence be largely ignored? At the Pt.
> Townsend seminar I could easily spot a Mariner hull upside down in a 
> gaggle
> of other designs simply by the hull shape. All the rest just looked alike
> inverted. I was amazed. The last hull Matt and Cam designed was in the 
> early
> 1990s and they STILL stand out in a crowd. It would be different if the
> damned things didn't perform as advertised.



Cam and Matt are hull design geniuses. Was that ever in dispute? :-)

> Doug said he doesn't like their "esthetics"; maybe he can explain that. 
> I'm
> sure he's paddled Mariners and certainly has a lot of experience paddling
> the sort of water Mariners (and the Coaster in particular) were designed 
> to
> handle. Maybe Doug knows something you and I don't



It is axiomatic in most paddling circles that the Mariner kayaks, in 
general, have a bit of a different aesthetic. The new Delta kayaks suffer 
the same aesthetic. There's nothing wrong with that. It is simply personal 
preference. While I do like the Mariner II, and indeed have paddled this 
kayak design, enjoying its "slippery slide" through the water, to me the 
fuller Mariner line, most models in context, are like a mature, middle aged 
women: round, with big, soft curves. Perhaps more reliable, more 
beneficially conducive to pragmatic matters at hand, but I'd still rather be 
seen with a twenty-something. :-)


> Perhaps the designs are just too radical even now. Designed to excel in 
> the
> sort of kayaking that is only now becoming more popular. And perhaps no 
> one
> believes the hype. I know I didn't until I paddled an Express in choppy
> water and felt it try to accelerate and surf every wave.



I know excellent paddlers who both love and, not so much now, don't adore 
these particular kayaks. Or have simply become unfaithful. I've paddled some 
of them out on the west coast, and yes, they perform, at varying levels and 
in some cases, to perfection. And what I want and like and tend to feel 
right in is a different matter.


> As of this morning, two Mariners appeared on the Seattle craigslist (in
> "boats"); a Max and an XL. I wonder how long they'll last at $1200 each. 
> The
> only Coaster that has appeared on any craigslist on the west coast (and
> trust me, I've been watching for them) was the one I bought 2 hours after
> the ad appeared.



Why are they being sold?


Anyway Craig, may the mother godess of mothershipping grant you fleetness 
astern, may the spirit of the mighty Poseidon bless your paddle with power 
and your paddling with vigor, and may you know many more years of fine 
yaking, whether in a fine-design Mariner or less worthy craft - and fine 
yaking both in a kayak and on list server conversations yet to be inspired.



DL
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