I'll have a shot at this. Who knows, but if you are looking for stability, I am not sure the Ellesmere by Boreal will give you "more stability" due to its reverse chines, but it certainly is a playful boat. A friend has one, and every summer when I paddle with him, I play with it. It is extremely responsive though -- turns on a dime. I love it. But I don't think you would be comfortable in it. Don't count the Force 4 out. I own one, am about the same size and weight you are, and despite its 18 foot length, It is more responsive than the Impex Currituck which is 17 feet and wider and has much more rocker than its sibling Force. I find the Currituck very squirrelly. The Force is extremely stable and tracks beautifully, even in heavy winds. I hardly ever use the skeg on the Force. And it accelerates rather quickly. I find plenty of room in the Force for gear and have taken it on five day paddling journeys with room to spare. So yes, the Force is narrow and long and fast, but it is also very stable and responsive. Another one you might consider is TideRace Xcite or Xplore, which I have tested at NY Kayak Company, and loved, though if I recall, I was surprised that the smaller model that Randy had at the time fit me well. I think the TideRace, being designed by Fins, who tend to be bigger, may be the reason for this. (My apologies to any small Fins out there.) But then again you need to try them out for fit, and I need to retry them as I love these boats and am seriously considering adding a TideRace when I can. They also have a new model called Xcape which I haven't tested. Oh yes, I also got to play with the newer CD Infinity and found the secondary stability to be very good and the primary to be a bit tipsy, but I think the boat didn't fit me and I was in flat glaswater when I tried it out and couldn't really play in any waves, so I don't have any real feel for it. I am sure others more knowledgable than me can be of better assistance, but I hope this helps. My best, David On Apr 2, 2011, at 5:11 PM, Darryl Johnson wrote: > After a number of years putting up with my kayak which is too small to store all my gear on long and/or cold-weather trips, I have started looking at new kayaks. > > I have a second issue with my current boat: I love playing in decent waves, but I'll have a "whoopsie!" moment and then I'll tense up and everything just goes downhill from there. So I'm looking for more stability in a boat. > > At my age, it's doubtful that my skill level is going to increase to any extent, so please don't suggest I learn a new skill to make me feel better, and that isn't going to solve the storage issue in any case. > > I have read a number of glowing reviews of the Valley Aquanaut and plan to drive to the nearest dealer (a day's drive away) later in the spring when he gets his full complement of boats in. > > He has suggested a few other boats I might want to try: > Current Designs Infinity > Delta 17 Skeg > Boreal Baffin > Boreal Ellesmere > Impex Force 4 > Seaward Quantum > Nigel Foster Legend > P & H Capella 173 > > The Impex Force 4, as I recall is a fast, narrow boat more suited to day trips and speed demons (which I am not), so I probably won't test it. > > But I am interested in comments about the Aquanaut, vis-a-vis its overall stability, or any of the other boats listed. > > I am just under 6' (and shrinking with age), about 185 pounds. I consider myself a decent intermediate paddler. I do not roll. (Or rather, I do not roll back up.) > > Things seem rather slow on the list these days, so perhaps it wouldn't be too much of an imposition to throw myself on the mercy of other paddlers who may know these boats better than I. *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Apr 07 2011 - 12:23:44 PDT
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