has anyone seen the invisible tape?
Redux re the Rumour
– Last Updated: May-09-09 10:47 AM EST –
First, a post above mentions thigh braces. If there are Rumours out there with actual thigh braces, that weren't after-market things - this is a different boat than I paddled a couple of summers ago. That Rumour had zero thigh braces. So it is possible that CD tweaked the boat subsequent to the one I tried.
Second, I have been told by CD reps that they had tweaked designs to make them a little more forgiving. In my case, I can't verify either way. The last boat I heard that about was a Derek Hutchinson design. However, I have subsequently been told by someone who tracks this stuff is exactly the same as the prototype that came out of DH's hands. Without having the prototype and the production boats side by side, I can't verify anything here. But it isn't a stretch to think that CD asked Foster to modify this boat a little.
So - if your wife has everything but the roll, she might like the speed of this boat if she feels it is a comfortable fit.
A bit on Rumour
Probably old news to most, need to scroll for a while.
It does hint that the hull is different from Foster’s design.
http://www.nigelkayaks.com/794/815.html
more efficient and fun…?
does she have specific complaints about the Aquanaut? Fun is an attitude and you won’t get much more in worthwhile efficiency for a twice a month paddler. Is it simply heavy ?
DH had nothing to do with the Rumour
It is a Nigel Foster design. DH did design the CD Slipstream, which is somewhat similar in size to the Rumour.
Yes, I know that
– Last Updated: May-09-09 12:24 PM EST –
I was referring to the likelihood of CD having designs tweaked, not specifically whether it happened in the Rumour.
As I said, the conversation where I got seemingly conflicting info on this issue was about the Hutchinson designs, the Slipstream and the Gulfstream.
I just reread - I think it says that.
It’s not unusual for molds
to get tweaked slightly whenever manufacturers are changed, or processes change. I can think of several examples over the years. Most are insignificant changes.
the Rumour is alive
& lively.
I’ve only paddled it (the CD Rumour, not the Dutch version) briefly a few times in the last couple of years (demos on calm water 12-18"). I am smaller and lighter than your wife (5’3" 117 lbs) I just got in and went 100% ignorant of the boat’s reputation. My recollections: very good acceleration, adequate once underway. Not tippy. It did not infuse me w. kayak lust to own it, but it was fun and responsive.
I loved the ocean cockpit, but not much love for how my thighs fitted under it. Didn’t give me enough contact. A larger person would get more purchase.
Oddly, the one person I know who owns a Rumour is a woman who’s about 4’10" and maybe 140 lbs. She is very deft with the boat. I paddled w. her on the north coast of Lake Michigan w. 3 foot waves (the kind that block your view) and decks constantly awash under a NW wind of ~26 knots constantly blowing over a big fetch. She and the Rumour were more than up for it. It’s her sole seakayak and she loves it.
The other story I can relate: last year at the WMCKA symposium the rolling contest was won by a woman who goes about 115-120 lbs max and is 5’4". She did not have her P&H Sirius w. her and so chose the Rumour from a vendor’s demo herd. She hit 12 CtoC rolls in a timed 20 seconds & some seasoned onlookers said her form was so good the boat was holding her up!
She’s a superb kayaker for sure but that is good testimony to the Rumour’s performance as a rolling platform. Which is what Nigel Foster envisioned.
Finally, in the 2009 CD catalog the Rumour’s description has changed slightly and they now call it
“A great Greenland design for advanced paddlers.” That is usually kayak industry code for one that’ll buck off the unsuspecting 
If you think your wife would like to demo a Rumour, try asking your dealer to get in touch with the CD rep for your region. The reps make regular passes thru their territories with trucks and large vans of demos. It’s a big part of their job to bring in demos to supplement dealer inventories, esp. for a boat that is pretty niche-y like the Rumour.
Anyway, why pencil in or write off a boat based on anyone’s 2 or 4 cents? Get it out on the water and have a good time doing it.
Greenland boat
Finally, in the 2009 CD catalog the Rumour’s description has changed slightly and they now call it
“A great Greenland design for advanced paddlers.” That is usually kayak industry code for one that’ll buck off the unsuspecting
I don’t understand how they can market it as a “Greenland design” if the front rigging won’t accept
a Storm GP.
If I owned the boat I’d figure a way to stow it but
shouldn’t that be standard equipment?
Anyway I thought the rigging was minimal at best.
catalog wording
CD has categorized the Rumour as “Greenland design” since its inception. In doing so, they’ve chosen to
bracket the Rumour w. the Caribou, the Suka and the new Isle as “Greenland design” or “Greenland style”.
To be fair, IMO this wording is CD’s way of paying tribute to Greenland attributes - and not CD putting out these boats as pure Greenland/traditional design.
Certainly for some makers the word “Greenland” is more marketing hype than design affinity.
IMO Current Designs does a pretty fair job of helping people understand the broad categories of British, North American and Greenland designs. Their catalog, I think, is the best description of basic build terms and features for the average person trying to make an intelligent and rewarding purchase.
Perhaps it is just my own background and study, but I conceptualize designs and styles (in kayaks and other objects) as a continuum which is ever evolving and which takes some different twists and acclerations in response to prevailing uses. It’s never static.
So to me these style names are a kind of shorthand to convey a range of features and not a rigid category of what the boat is “supposed” to be or look like.
To your point: I think the Rumour’s discontinuous rigging in the forward deck is odd compared to all the other CD boats (from rec to touring) which offer full perimeter deck lining. Might just be one of Nigel Foster’s quirks, or it may be sprung from a bona fide design preference. Maybe someday NF will tell In the meantime most deck rigging can be customized fairly easily.
Nigel Foster quirk
– Last Updated: May-11-09 2:14 AM EST –
Same as Echo, Legend, Silhouette etc...
So, re-rig the deck
It’s not difficult to do. There’s a pic of the foredeck of my girlfriend’s Rumour in my “Deck Rigging” album on Webshots at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg
replying to me BNy?
I said the same thing in the last sentence of my 2nd post. Perhaps you were responding to Olde Inuit.
(kind of brings home kwickle’s point of how responses are threaded).
In any case, if someone liked the Rumour or any boat well enough, changing the deck rigging wouldn’t stop them.
will have to at some point anyway…
Both static cord and bungee wear. One has to replace deck rigging at some point on almost any sea kayak.
Not as elegantly as Brian, I’ve redone the rigging on each of my boats. Like Brian, to stow paddles (including GPs) better and to make it easier to grab perimeter lines. I also prefer my static line to be a different color than my shock cord. I’ve grabbed bungees by mistake when re-entering in lumpy seas – it is not fun!