Re: [Paddlewise] Boat and People sizes

Darryl asked:



>>>>>....I have a friend who is trying to find a
boat. He is, in one sense of the word, a "big" guy. But he's big
across his .. uh .. derrihre, his stomach and he has large thighs. I'd
guess he's about 250-275 pounds. He's only about 5'10" or 5'11", so
boats that he can fit in, like the Seaward Navigator, or just too high
and/or long to be able to get his knees locked in.
.....
The Nimbus Telkwa made him happier than his current Navigator, but
even that gives him issues trying to get his knees locked in to the
thigh braces in bumpy water.

Anyone care to offer any suggestions of boats that his body type might
be better suited to?<<<<<<


The Nimbus Telkwa Sport has a slightly shorter cockpit than the Telkwa but it
is only 1/4" narrower (and recessed down more to fit shorter paddlers better).
I can highly recommend the Telkwa's for bigger paddlers.  If it is not too low
to fit his thighs that might be his best choice. The older Nimbus Seafarer
from the 1980's fit bigger guys. Several Necky Kayaks fit bigger guys.
Probably because Mike Neckar himself didn't, shall we say, fit the physical
profile of most other world class athletes.



Besides the Kyook (first introduced in 1991--Necky's first plastic kayak),
there are the Nootka (1986) and its update a few years later called the
Tesla). In 1998 the Tesla NM came out and it was widened to 25" and made
especially to better fit bigger guys. In 1997 the Necky Pinta came out for the
truly huge paddlers. I suspect it will be too big and wide (27") for your
friend though. Another plastic Necky that may be suitable is the Eskia that
came out in 2001. Pacific Water Sports made the Thunderbird in 1991 for truly
huge guys but a year later made a cut down version called the Thunderbird LP
for shorter big paddlers. Still at 28.25" wide it is a pretty wide kayak for
someone your friend's size. I talked to someone who wanted to buy another
Thunderbird (because he liked the high stability for kayak sailing) and when I
asked Lee Moyer about it he told me (a year or two ago) that they can still be
made.



Sometimes a kayak with a wide enough cockpit doesn't have a big enough seat.
It is usually relatively easy to remove the original seat and replace it with
some foam seat or seat pad.



Wayne ?somebody? used to post a list of big guys kayaks he fit in on the
internet. I think he was also on Paddlewise back in the 1990's. I looked to
see if I had made a copy of his webpage before he closed it but couldn't find
one. I once had a list of big guy boats (and also small person kayaks) posted
in the back of my shop in order to help folks who's size made the kayak
selection available to fit them rather small. I looked for it in my computer
files but only found what I had written to someone on Paddlewise in 2000 (see
edited version below). I'm sure others have come out in the last ten years as
well.



....At your size some kayaks that I am pretty sure you will fit into and that
probably will be stable enough are (in roughly alphabetical order):

Current Designs Pachena
Current Designs Breeze (plastic Pachena)
Current Designs Solstice GTHV
Easy Rider Seahawk
Easy Rider Eskimo 17 (or 18-6)
Eddyline Wind Dancer
Necky Pinta
Necky Tesla NM
Nimbus Seafarer
Nimbus Telkwa (or Telkwa HV)
Northwest Kayaks Pursuit XL
PWS Sea Otter 500 GP (or Expedition)
PWS Thunderbird
Seda Viking
Wilkinson Boat Enetai HP
Wilkinson Boat Polaris II
Wilderness Systems Sealution XL

I'm not recommending all these, some of them I really detest, but these should
all fit you and be stable enough (at least once you become relatively
skilled). Novice paddlers tend to overate stability and tracking stiffness to
their detriment later but there does need to be a certain minimum stability or
you will never get comfortable with it. Be careful of a smaller paddlers
experiences or judgment concerning what is a good kayak here.......
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