I have been looking for an anas or a pintail to add to my fleet, looking to sell the capella and get either an anas, or a pintail, but there are a couple things I wondered about. I’ve heard that the performance qualities are very similar, but I am also trying to have this boat as the boat for my wife, who is not a serious aggressive paddler, would the pintail with it’s 22" beam be a better compromise than the anas at 20.5.
Also the ocean cockpit which I like may be a bit of a chore for my wife because she is 6’ tall and skinny with long legs, while I am short and stocky at 5’7". I dunno maybe a pintail with a keyhole is the answer.
yep
Pintail w/ keyhole.
I just sold Cindy’s old one for $1800. Nice boot and sad to see her leave. 
steve
I own both boats…
– Last Updated: Apr-01-04 1:49 PM EST –
...and just happen to be 6' tall, relatively "skinny" (170# these days) and have long legs (36" inseam). I like both of them, but for somewhat different applications.
The Pintail is my "rock boat". It excels in rough water and the rounded hull distributes impacts well, readily deflecting blows and sliding off of rocks. I find it to be very stable, but easy to edge and roll. It also surfs surprisingly well for a sea kayak.
The Anas Acuta is similarly maneuverable (maybe just a tad less), slightly less stable, tracks just a bit better and feels sligtly faster. In other words, there's not a great deal of difference between the boats. Where the Pintail slams into a wall at 4-4.5 knots, the AA is more progressive as it approaches it's maximum hull speed. It's somewhat harder to control in surf and tends to broach more readily. It's fine in rock gardens, but the sharp chines and keel tend to take the brunt of the abuse, so gelcoat repairs are necessary more often. These days, I paddle the AA more than any other boat.
Despite their similarities, I wouldn't part with either one.
Both of the boats have ocean cockpits and I wouldn't have them any other way.
If you can find older boats (pre '95) with a flat aft decks, grab 'em. I like them better than the newer curved deck boats (easier laybacks), although my Anas is the latter and I have no real complaints about it.
Also, there are two, quite different versions of the Pintail hull, though VCP has never mentioned it. Older boats are very rounded. The newer hull has higher volume, squarer bilges. To just look at one boat, it can be hard to tell the difference, but if put one of each side-by-side, the differences are quite striking. At least around here, Pintail aficionados seem to prefer the flat aft deck, round hull version. I know of two people who sold new keyhole/squarer hull Pintails as soon as they found older style boats. AFAIK, all curved-aft-deck deck Pintails have the new hull, but I'm not absolutely sure of that.
I hope this makes your choice easier, Keith.
oops
I thought that the title of this message was “pin tail on ass”… nope just kayaks…
Sorry couldn’t resist…
PK
When you’re ready to sell the Capella,
let me know.
Pintail vs AA Broaching
Brian, I only disagree on one point: I think the Pintail broaches more readily than an AA. This I say after more than 1000 hours of paddling along side my buddies Pintail and he is the better paddler. Could it be that you are more agressive when in the AA?
Has she paddled them?
From personal experience, if your trying to find a boat for your wife, In my opinion the best thing to do would be to let her choose. It’s going to be her boat and you want her to love it.
We spent considerable time demoing boats before buying used. I thought my wife would love the Pintail but it wasn’t quite what she wanted. She ended up settling for her second favorite when we puchased her Slipstream, but her “dream boat” was an Impex Montauk. Her comment on the Slipstream and Montauk were that they “felt” better and didn’t seem as large in the front of the cockpit.
The only reason she doesn’t have a Montauk now is because the used one we were looking at had leaky hatch covers and the recessed deck fittings just happened to be in the worst possible spot for her in the cockpit. However I think Impex has kayaksport hatches now (don’t tell my wife).
yes
I am thinking now of just buying it as a playboat for myself and not for her, unless she wants it. Because she likes her capella, and doesn’t care about trading up. Besides it’s a good boat for beginners and friends to try. and the “new” capella has some changes I don’t like. so I think I may have a collectors item on my hand.
Broaching
Like any sea kayak, both boats tend to broach. What I’ve noticed when surfing is that the AA has a tendency to broach harder and faster and it’s more difficult to resist than in the Pintail. Paddler size, weight, strength, type of paddle, technique etc., all make a difference, so unless you can paddle both boats yourself, it’s hard to make a comparison. However, it’s also possible that the difference I’ve noticed is due to the specific conditions I’ve paddled the boats in. In all fairness, I have to state that I’ve never paddled them back to back in the same conditions, which would be the best way to compare them.
If anything, I’m more aggressive in the Pintail.
DOH!