"Advanced" could mean "technologically advanced" or "requiring advanced skills".
In this context of discussing sea kayaks, it's the latter definition ("requiring advanced skills") people are thinking of.
People are thinking "is that boat too advanced for me?" (meaning "is that boat too hard for me to use?").
An ideal general sea kayak should support a wide range of sea kayaking skill levels. Boats like the Romany (for example) do this very well. They are the only boats people ever really "need": they can be used for a life time of sea kayaking and sea kayaking skill development.
There are many other boats that are easy to use starting out but hinder skill development: "beginner boat" like recreational kayaks. There are other boats that require a fair amount of skill and attentiveness (ie, "advanced boats" requiring advanced skill).
It's obvious one would not start a beginner in an advanced boat (we are not really discussing that).
The important thing is it is reasonble (because it's easy) skip the "beginner boat" if the beginner is interested in developing real sea kayaking skills (not merely interested in "puttering around").
Of course, there are beginners are not really interested in skills development (or not yet interested). So, "beginner boats" do have a purpose.
"Maybe the difference is simply that "advanced" boats offer little or nothing in the way of instant gratification,"
I like that observation, though quite different from what I was thinking.
The last time a boat felt it wanted more from me than I was ready to give was a Silhouette 4 years ago. (A week or so later Nigel Foster told me I was too big for a Silhouette and that the Legend was targeted to my size paddler) Last summer getting into a friend's Sultan, a model boat I last paddled enough years ago to have had minimal skills, it was a blast! Certainly a more demanding boat than my Aquanaut, my growing bracing skills were put to good use.
I'm very much an intemediate paddler at this point. I feel comfortable in most decent boats and know that well designed sea kayaks are more capable than I. I have two boats which allow my skills and enjoyment to grow.
In working with other paddlers, it troubles me to see people have to fight the flaws in their boats in order to advance their skills and enjoyment. My current posture is to have aspiring paddlers think of capable boats as appropriate boats. Too often novice paddlers feel if more advanced or expert paddlers choose the boat, it is beyond their abiltities.
The woman who enjoyed my Romany would not have thought to paddle such a boat if it wasn't handed to her with encouragement. Until getting into the boat, she thought it was too narrow, too low, and too long for her -- in her terms it was too advanced of a boat.
Some think ANY kayak is advanced Yesterday after paddling I walked by a rental booth that rents rec kayaks, canoes, and pedal boats. A family stood there debating what to rent. The kid said loudly, obviously meaning me to hear (they had been watching me practice rolling and bracing), “Not kayaks! They’re dangerous; too tippy.”
(They rented the pedal boat.)
“Advanced” depends on so many things: natural sense of balance and coordination, willingness to learn and practice, conditions encountered. And as others have noted, the match of paddler to kayak makes a difference. I’m small enough that literally no kayak has felt tippy. The 16-17’ and 22" beam kayaks that someone else referred to as “standard sea kayak size” feel like barges to me.
Kayaks aren’t tippy, paddlers are… -paraphrased form a sign regarding canoes in a local outfitter’s shop.
One of my leitmotifs when talking to novice paddlers about kayaks is that the natural inclination of a well designed kayak is to stay upright. I tell them that the paddler has to relax and stay out of the way of the boat.
amen When i took the Strand boat out into the open ocean through the cut at ft. Lauderdale, I almost capsized a couple of times due to the current and standing waves as well as the larger boat wakes. (As Alex said it is a bit of a surfboard) and only when I finally relaxed and let the boat find it’s natural upright position that i actually started having fun.
The Romany might be best described as a ‘competent’ boat. It performs well in many conditions. It is comfortable for novice paddlers and satisfying for advanced paddlers.
well I would suggest possibly Saturday afternoon but that would be just plain blasphemous since Brazil is playing. I guess I can concede that there is something more important than kayaking every four years.
It's real easy to expand this discussion to the point that any meaning is lost.
Focus on the realm of sea kayaks and people who have a real interest in sea kayaking.
Clearly, someone who chooses a pedal boat isn't really interested sea kayaking and, so, any kayak is advanced relative to a pedal boat. (So, the pedal boat comment is a diversion from a useful discussion.)
While there are many variables in balance, athetisism, conditioning, size, weight, including these in this discussion might dilute the meaning too much.
"And as others have noted, the match of paddler to kayak makes a difference." This is absolutely true but it gives no hint as to where to start!
"The 16-17' and 22" beam kayaks that someone else referred to as 'standard sea kayak size' feel like barges to me."
I think I said this; I say it a lot. I chose these parameters because they define a true sea kayak that will work pretty well for a very wide range of people. If one is not familiar with true sea kayaks, it's the PERFECT size to START looking at (you have to start somwhere). If one starts with a boat of these dimensions and has clear issues (like being too big or too small), that's OK!
Typically, people starting out look at short and wide recreational boats. Or, if they are interested in sea kayaking, they get caught up in the romance of "expeditions" and look at boats that are too big (less common nowadays). Starting-out looking at boats that are 16-17' and 22" wide is a MUCH BETTER strategy for people truely interested in sea kayaking. It's strange to me that this isn't obvious to more people.
PERFECT size to START looking I agree, though I would usually put the dimensions as 15.5’ - 18’ long (includes such boats as the Vela and Nordkapp) and 20-24" wide (includes such boats as the Silhouette and Solstice)
