Hi all. I have been looking for a good, speedy, nice tracking touring kayak. I am 5’2’ 115 lbs female. I kinda like the barracuda and the anadyr. Anybody know about these boats? Thank you very much. Lori
good, speedy, nice tracking touring kaya
Pretty much describes the Barracuda. I had the pleasure of demoing one for an extended period, and loved it. Very fast, but a bit tender. Takes a while to get used to it, but well worth the learning experience. Sea-Kayaker Magazine did a good review on it.
Don’t know about the Anadyr, sorry.
thanks
Hey, thanks for the reply. When you say tender, do you mean it is tippy?
Isn’t the Barracuda a really deep boat?
Check out its deck height. I am 5’2" also and find that many kayaks’ foredecks are uncomfortably tall. If I remember correctly the Barracuda’s spec lists 14" foredeck height. My Squall’s deck is about 13" high and my wood kayak’s about 12". Both kayaks have lots of minicell padding for thigh contact.
I found that 11" deck height (light padding) on a rented kayak gave me plenty of room to move around yet still afforded good thigh contact.
I’m thinking that the Barracuda will swallow you up!
deck height
Is there a boat out there similiar to the barracuda that won’t swallow me?
Yep.
The Prijon Catalina, my current ride. Great for the smaller paddler, but doesn’t give anything away in terms of performance.
By tender, I do mean tippy. The Barracuda is a challenge at first, but once you get used to it, it’s fine. The great thing about it is, no matter WHAT other boat you get into next, it’ll feel like the Andrea Doria.
seaworthy?
Do you think the barracuda is seaworthy? I know the length and everything is fine. The bow looks a little more blunt than some of the others. Other than getting wet while going over waves, does the blunt bow affect anything else?
Catalina
my wife bought a Catalina a few months ago. she is 5’2"/120 lbs. The deck height in her boat is perfect for her, especially after initially paddling my Calabria. The Catalina is one sweet boat
Seaworthy
The reviewers in Sea-Kayaker found the Barracuda seaworthy, noting that the blunt bow did tend to plunge but that the foredeck shed water very well.
I couild not get to open ocean during my demo due to ice conditions, but found it fine in moderate wind swell and chop.
The Catalina on the other hand, is a wet ride at 15’3". Even so , I’ve had it in large swells with no real trouble, only experiencing wet whiskers in a steep harbour chop.
Anadyr: a lot of boat for 115 lbs
The Anadyr has also been reviewed by Sea Kayaker, but the current versions have better outfitting. The Anadyr is in interesting option because it may be the only high performance fiberglass kayak on the market that is as inexpensive as some plastic kayaks. If you are not carrying much gear, 115 lbs is pretty light, and the Anadyr (and maybe barracuda also) may be more volume then you need. You should really demo both of them, and others also.
Cheers
The Anadyr
was my first glass boat. I loved it. Very pretty to look at, straight tracker, nice big hatches, and very fast. Low initial stability, but good secondary. Its hard to roll though because it is a high volume boat. My biggest complaint about it was that on long trips the seat digs into the back of your butt.
For your size, you’d really have to pad the heck out of it to get a decent fit. I’m 5’9" and about 135 and I found it to be a bit big for me, especially after trying some other low volume sea touring kayaks. If the other boat you are speaking of has a lower deck and fits you better, that may be a better choice for your size.
-tabby
http://www.suncat.net
Barracuda
– Last Updated: Dec-29-04 5:34 PM EST –
The Barracuda is pretty efficient and tracks well. It doesn't take much edging to make minor course corrections, and not much more to carve a nice, crisp turn. Like someone else said, you might need to pad the cockpit a bit if that's what you go with. It fit me well at 5'10" and 230 lbs, so you definitely would have plenty of space. If you want to see how it sits in the water with that kind of load in it, here's a photo:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/133354146/139137206RQxwxE
Thanks
everyone. I really think the barracuda is the way I should go. Hopefully, I can go demo one soon
rroberts in Ohio has a Barracuda.
Maybe he will spot this post soon. He is about 200 pounds, not as heavy as me, and he is very happy with the boat.
I’m rroberts and I deny all knowledge…
…of the evil miscreant who bandied my name so
incatiously.
The Barracuda is a GREAT boat. Twitchy, however.
You have to pay attention or you’ll go inverted
until you get used to it. But like the man said
earlier, it’s more than worth the effort. I
paddle white water, so instability–both physical
and mental–are pretty natural conditions for me.
It’s FAST. Oh, Momma, it’s fast. It truely
reminds me of my sister’s Arabian horse: idio-
syncratic, but after you got the hang of him,
he’d lay his ears back and run forever. Third
time out I almost got a speeding ticket from ODNR.
I fit it pretty well at 6’/200 with size 12 feet.
It’s narrow. 21" wide, so if you’re small that would be working well for you.
The outfitting is supurb and the foot pegs are
the most comfortable I’ve ever had.
I put a roll or toilet paper in the hatches–to
check for leaks–and went out for roll practice.
The toilet paper was completely dry after several
swims back to shore.
The other boat I don’t know, but I can’t believe
you’d be disappointed with the Barracuda.
If you are any where near Dayton/Cincinnati/Columbus c’on down.