Better…
to have a boat with a dropped down skeg or rudder if it’s your first. Gives you more control and backup (provided good maintenance).
Sparrow Hawk doesn’t have skeg or rudder and you’ll need to correct with leaning/edging. Also probably have to paddle in the wind to figure out how to trim it out for less weatherhelming. The plus side is that it’ll be lighter and one less possible equipment failure to worry about. Still, not really something (I would recommend) for one who may be relatively new to long boats.
Now… who’s selling the Sparrow Hawk? 
sing
Maintenance Issues Etc
Hmm - I wouldn’t walk away from wood based on maintenance issues - especially since you get a great combination on strength and relatively light weight. Here’s the thing, especially if you are talking about salt water. ALL materials will require some ongoing maintenance. For all boats you’ll be washing down the boats and rigging from salt per use and regularly (every couple of weeks if you are real prudent) applying 303 or other UV protectant to the hatches and any other suynthetic surfaces.
For a plastic boat, you’ll be reapplying something like Lexel to keep the bulkheads sealed. For fiberglass, or Kevlar which will have a fiberglass layer over it on the hull, you’ll be inspecting and patching deeper gouges throughout the season and maybe waxing the deck. (Though there’ll be less of that on LI than up in Maine.)
Between seasons you’ll be doing more major or careful work.
Bottom line, it could be argued that all-wood may be easier because it tends to shove most of the work into the off season (assuming you have one) rather than a continuous flow of patches throughout.
The boats you describe above have very different personalities, between tracking, playfulness etc. You also have hard as well as soft chined boats on your list, which require different responses from the paddler. (BTW - the max rated capacity of the Vela is 196 pounds - that’s you plus gear. I had to look it up for another purpose. Would that work for you for camping?)
To help a bit - can you describe the aspects of handling that you have most liked in the boats you’ve tried so far?
QCC600
Call QCC and speak with their experts. Their recomendations were excellent for me and I love my 600. They may recommend a different boat for you follow their recomendations. They do have a real 100% guarantee and a lifetime warrenty.
J, why not just…
Buy them all? That way you’ll never outgrow your boats, and you can have demo days for the surrounding community.So my latest list is looking like this:
Ellesmere, capella 163, vela kevlar, surge, seaward 16-17 footer, and maybe kajak sport viking, chatham 16, CD slipstream. Trying the ellesmere next week. Maybe the sparrowhawk this weekend, but have kind of talked myself out of it.
All I can tell you is
– Last Updated: Oct-14-05 6:47 PM EST –
beware of company advertisements. Do not trust weight specifications! Add another 6-10 pounds to their advertised weight unless you call the company directly and speak to someone in corporate - not just customer service.
Love my Tracer!
I had to add more layers of foam under the deck and a little on the sides for the hips to make bracing more secure. My Tracer is only 48 lbs and with the skeg down I can go out in most any conditions. This was my third “upgrade” and I went back and forth trying to decide between several used composite boats that were still more money and I’m real happy with the Tracer. The hull material (whatever they call it) has held up great and cleans up wonderfully and looks like new after a full year of learning more advanced skills and countless wet exits and dragging myself up over the deck. Good luck! There sure are a lot of nice kayaks out there to choose from.
Curious . . .
I’m curious about why you ruled out the Nighthawk 16 on this list. It seems to have all the features you want except a day hatch, handles really well in wind and waves, has a drop skeg, light weight, and holds a lot. It really, really handles well fully loaded. Some folks have removed the seat back and put in a back band. I found the best comfort with the seat back all the way down and tilted back a few degrees, so it’s more like a “butt-stop” than a seat back.
I don’t know from experience, but I also hear that it’s really fun to surf. I hope to be trying that someday soon!
Paula
female
I tried a sparrow hawk today. Beautiful ines and excellent fit. Tracked very well in calm areas, but lots of weathercocking when the wind picked up. I would buy this for sure if it had a skeg. Anyone ever tried to add one?
not personally
but I know of a few that have been added to ‘hawks’.
you like working with fiberglass?
=:-0)
the boat does weathercock a bit, like most true Greenland designs. Both the Sparrow and Arctic Hawks are pretty true replicas of early 1900 SW GL boats.
I had the priviledge of getting to know Mark Rogers well in the hayday of the Hawks, '94 or so.
good luck
steve
Actual Measures
Sorry it took so long for me to actually measure the height at coaming front of the Brit boats in our task force. Here are the actuals:
Aquanaut 11.75"
Romany 11.5"
Vela 11.5"
Explorer LV 10.5"
CD Slipstream
I’m paddling a kevlar CD slipstream and I love the boat. I’m 5’5, 105 lbs and I find it performs nicely for my size (both in flatwater and 3+ meter swells).
In my case, the cockpit size is a bit roomy. I added padding to improve the fit. Also, if you plan on doing multi-day trips, it may require some creative thinking for loading up the kayak.
The kayak will weathercock in a strong beam wind or decent quartering sea (as do most). Yet, I’ve found it to be manageable in such conditions and I’ve only needed to deploy the skeg on rare occasions.
As the CD website says, it’s a lively, maneuverable, playful kayak. I find it easy to roll. Speed has not been an issue, I have no problem keeping up with “the boys”.
Just my 2 cents.
Leslie
www.kayaktherock.com
Hey Joe…
forget that Chatham 16 ! Try and 18. they are fast, fast, fast!
Cheers,
JackL
I just sold one
on this site. Already sorry I got rid of it. Had it for about 6 years. Yes, it weathercocks a great deal It was fast and fit like a glove, but definitely needed a skeg. Very low volume. Weighed 47 lbs - exactly as advertised.
Happy paddling!
Thanks for letting us know your decision. If you ever decide to start building…drop me a line. 