Question: I just got a free Dagger Piedra, which I believe is rated to 185 lbs. I’m 6’0" 205. 32 inseam. It’s a tight fit but seems doable. Question: is exceeding weight limit by ~ 20 lbs dangerous? Assume use will be light recreation in ponds/small lakes. Thanks.
Maybe less stable
The Piedra was used heavily by WW teaching programs at one point for children. I got the one we have under our porch (for myself) from a young man who was a somewhat chunky 12 or 13, it had started its life as a Demo boat in the school program at the major WW place in Canada. (Forget the name.)
So if you are over a couple of hundred pounds, it just might sit so low that it’ll be easier for you to capsize. So make sure you can get out of it.
But it is also very easy to hand-roll - learn that and you are set.
Depends on your skills
Paddling a boat that you are too heavy for means that different parts of the hull are in play than normal. Some people, like myself, try to use that to an advantage. But as Celia says there is more risk, even on a flat pond. But if you want to add rolling to your skills it can be a lot of fun.
Rolling boat
I’m 6’, 180lbs. The one time I was in Celia’s Piedra was in a pool. It made for an easy rolling boat.
As noted, the Piedra was meant as a child’s and women’s (small persons)boat. I think I recall the original recommended max weight was 140lbs.
I wouldn’t want to run ww in an extremely overladen boat, but paddling quiet water should be safe enough provided you can easily wet exit if necessary.
Wanna have a Blast?
The Dagger Blast was kinda like the Animas, but was small for large children and teens.
Then some quasi-adult paddlers found that if it was re-outfitted inside, they could have lots of fun in it, blasting, squirting, etc. I saw one of the US’s best downriver paddlers in a Blast, cavorting on Atlanta’s metro Chattahoochee.
Just by my eyeball assessment, the Blast had the best shape of the three.