Built mine from plans…
…so I didn’t go the VCP route for the hatches. I also deleted the king plank on the rear deck as my understanding was that it was there to reinforce the tight radius of the foreward deck (the rear is almost flat)and I saved a pound of wood.
I disagree about the skeg and weathercocking, maybe its my light 130#'s but the Pax18 needs some directional stability. Depending on how much of the skeg was deployed, I could trim her to point where I chose, without she just wanted to point into the wind.
A fun boat that i do not regret having built, however if she was totalled, I’d build (or buy) something else.
Stephen
What do you think of the Coho
I was looking at the Pygmy designs, and that one looked the best to me.
Good points? Bad points?
maybe that’s it, weight
I weighed 190 when I paddled the Pax18 last and it seemed like there was no weathercocking. I always thought it was odd that the Pax20 got an extra few pounds added when it didn’t need the kingplank. When I built the original Pax20 prototype I experimented with underdeck glassing because the whole bit about aft deck carlins/ bulkheads was derived from the Northbays. It really made no sense if the deck had 4oz glass on both sides with 8oz about a foot behind the cockpit and it eliminated all the goop on the inside.
The first Pax20 was oversized by about 25%, it would have fit a 275lb paddler. After awhile it took up space and I sliced it up into 18" sections and tossed it in the dumpster.
good/bad
good: big, efficient, comfortable in waves, stable and responsive.
bad: big, need to install thigh braces as it doesn’t have a keyhole cockpit. I used two arc sections of 6mm ply to make thigh hooks.
Correction for weathercocking requires some effort for all day paddling. Skeg or rudder would be worthwhile for windy conditions and long distances. I took one on a trip to Maine without a rudder and it was a bit of an effort. But I managed in 20kt winds better than another guy in an unskegged Caribou loaded down almost as much. Except my coaming was about 3" higher off the water. I felt comfortable popping the skirt in bouncy water and getting something without getting water in. He couldn’t attempt that.
200lb paddler with 80lbs of stuff, about 1/2 water.
It’s more efficient than the beam measurment would lead you to believe. If a person wanted a bigger and straighter tracking Gulfstream this is kind of in that direction.
Thanks
Kinda what I figured. I’d rudder it regardless. May never need it, but it’s nice to have.
Planning # 3
I built a Pygmy Coho in 1999 and a Pygmy Tern 14 in 2001. Ready to start a strip boat or a Pygmy triple next.I still have and paddle both. Robert