There are many. I never realized that 12’ is now considered a long boat or that a 10’ is capable of anything but a farm pond.
I aged in this activity lusting after longer, faster craft. I’m sure there are lists for sea kayaks or surf skis that don’t get the press of rec boats.
It’s a wet, chilly afternoon and the dogs and I are bored.
I think those lists online are pretty much bot-generated lists of boats popular on Amazon. Or whatever company is paying.
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Probably about as accurate as the rave reviews from people that just bought their first boat without ever trying anything else.
Right up there with the lists of the “best places to paddle” and similar ideas. I always think I might learn something new and am always disappointed.
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We’re a cynical bunch, aka experienced.
Sounds like reverse engineers are now involved in Kayaks. Weight of the paddler, amount of thrust required to move the boat (Determined by draft) and maximum Grose vehicle weight (Listed by manufacturers) are the things that determine the length of the Kayak required. If length comes first there is a high probability that you’ll wiggle your way to the back of the pack. Then the reverse engineers will tell you to buy a longer faster Kayak. Maybe that’s their plan right from the start.
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Gotta love all those oh so helpful 5 star reviews …
“I just ordered a new xyxyxy from China. I don’t have it yet but I’m sure it will be epic. The best ever.”
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Where I live for every one sea-kayak there are 100 rec-kayaks (maybe higher) they range from Wal-Mart specials to OT 10-12 footers mostly 10. On a good note as far as safety goes I was at Wal-Mart today and the too early for water temp truckloads of rec-kayaks were there. 100% of them were somewhat unsinkable sit on tops. The old cheap sit insides had no or little additional flotation. Most of them get used a few times a year and spend their short life laying in the yard propped up on a couple chunks of firewood out in the sun and snow.
The usage here beat them up worse than the storage. People drag them down dirt and gravel roads and the rivers are in places only a few inches deep with sharp rock bottoms.
They are basically considered a consumable item and the fun is not in going fast or straight or keeping the rec-boat looking good, but floating one of the many 10-12 mile stretches between access points enjoying nature or doing other things people like to do on the water.
It is the people with the slightly better OT 10-12’ models and similar that take it a bit more serious. Lots of people fish out of them and spending about 3-4 times the amount take them more serious. I see them all over some good size inland lakes much larger than farm ponds.