Hi,
Just curious to hear some comments on what you prefer for a British style or Greenland style day/play boat.
For the most part I would consider this to be a 16 foot boat (Avocet, Romany, Chatham 16), but some longer boats come to mind as well such as the Pintail, Anas Acuta and maybe even the Nordkapp LV.
DISCLAIMER: I am only curious to hear people’s comments and see what the consensus is—I am not trying to make any decisions about buying a boat and understand that each person has to decide for himself what boat he likes. I just am curious to hear what people have to say.
I recently got a good deal on an Avocet. I like it a lot. I have also paddled quite a bit in a Chatham and a Dagger Meridian (Romany copy). I like the Avocet best, but think the Chatham has a lot of great qualities too especially with its great secondary…but find it to be slow, a bit tight, and uncomfortable.
What do you think and why?
Matt
I put my 250 pounds in my pintail
on the ocean a coule of weeks back. Went over quite a few times.
Give me an avocet in plastic or a romany or a susquehanna or a gulfstream any day.
The susquehanna from impex is a fine playable sea kayak and often overlooked
Pintail
I tried out a Pintail a couple of months ago but it was in very calm conditions. I’m about 225 and it was a keyhole. I’d love to get one at some point. Peter, is yours an ocean or keyhole?
mine is sold
and if he gets squirrelly, sold again. it’s a keyhole, 1999.
I have a terrible sense of balance (but my roll is pretty decent these days)
For a lighter-more skilled paddler the pintail is a gas, I’ve seen it do miracles but given my lowered paddling opportunities the learning curve is too steep for me.
good day boats
just about everything.
I like the Legend, Tempest, and a slough of others…
Paul
Love the one you’re with
The Avocet is hard to beat: short, manueverable, and relatively fast.
Day and play not the same
My prefered day paddling boats, including my Greenland SOF, are not play boats.
Play boating is just one type of day paddle. Distance/fitness/racing/social/WW/Surf - all typical “day” paddles for some.
Sirocco
I like my CD Sirocco (16’ 10") for whatever paddling I do. It edges great and is fun to paddle. It isn’t real fast but is a good cruiser and handles chop, waves well. I like the looks of it and rather like the mirmaid on the bow. It gets a lot of looks and comments from people at the beaches!
Shadow
I’m pretty close to you in weight and I love my Nigel Foster Shadow. Surfs like a champ, turns on a dime when edged, yet tracks like it is on rails.
Much faster than my Gulfstream and doesn’t broach like the GS does.
what he said
Pintail is classic “play” boat for rock gardens and surfing, but not a great choice for long fast paddles from point a to point b. Outer Island would be ideal long distance day paddling boat. Boat are great boats. Major difference is in rocker.
Play Boats
Okay, I agree. I guess I am more getting at play boats—highly maneuverable, 16-17 foot boats primarily.
Matt
length
I think it has less to do with length than rocker, as the Pintail is easier to swing around than the Avocet, Capella, Romany etc even though it is 1.5 feet longer.
Gulfstream
very short waterlength, ultra maneuverable, great fitting cockpit if you are on the med-lg scale. very well made, the best coaming in the business, affords a dryer than average seal.
an ergonomically excellent design that allows for excellent grip in the boat. widish design, gives it a nice belly to swivel on edge, round cross section makes it lively, but width gives incredible overall secondary stability. playful, friendly, forgiving. too big/wide for most small people.
Overall length vs waterline length
Pintails spins easy because it has about 14’ waterline length and 3’ of overhangs! Most of it’s volume is in a central bulge.
day/play boats
I'm currently using an Outer Island for day trips. It's fast and sized just right for me, but it's no fun in the surf. Thinking about a Romany or Currituck or Chatham or Avocet for the surf days. Chatham or Avocet would be inexpensive in rotomold.