I had a Solstice for a couple years while I was learning to roll and even then I knew it wasn't a good boat for choppy stuff. It's those long hollow sharp ends. Really not a good shape for anything going through the water, especially if you need to maneuver. Even going straight through choppy stuff efficiently requires a somewhat maneuverable boat. Those hollow ends on the Solstice with no volume in them are simply levers that the waves can grab and torque your kayak,,and LOCK it into a broach inconsistantly as you side surf. It's got a herky jerky motion that the kayaks with more efficient shaped ends don't have. Super sharp ends aren't exactly efficient, but they look cool.
My $.02 is that if you really want something that's good in waves try out some other designs like the Chatham 17. The QCC700 will excell in speed and efficiency but if you want to feel secure and in control with waves off the stern you should be exploring what's possible in that realm and not just what's fast, which the 700 is with a fast motor.
full ends, long hollow ends What the Solstice has is not the same as kayaks that appear to have “pinched ends” or more traditional up turned ends with some concavity way above the waterline. The Solstice ends don’t have much buoyancy so they don’t lift up when going down a wave or into one, hulls with fuller ends,even ones that look “pinched” have more bouyancy where the hull is interacting with the water. Sure it’s “comfortable” but it sure isn’t if you want to turn around quickly in the soup or turn 45 degrees on a wave and can’t lean in a direction that makes that maneuver easy.
The QCC700s rounder ends, like a surfski is what you do to maximize speed and efficiency, with the rudder it’ll go straight and without the rudder the ends won’t overpower the steering effect of the entire hull shape. The Solstice pretty much STICKS in the ends where there’s a lot of leverage working against you. The QCC will slide more over the water at the ends which is more forgiving and less abrupt than the Solstice for a given amount of primary stability.
If you look at CDs Extreme/Nomad the ends aren’t as hollow.
what’s different about the Chathams is they provide more stability going down wave than most designs. Which is a nice thing for surf-chickens like me. What they sacrifice is high speed efficiency,but if you’re concern is paddling in rough stuff then you’re not looking at purely racing designs,unless you’re already a racing kinda guy and you really don’t desire these other attibutes.
surf zone is like whitewater the ability to roll is a basic skill when one is in waves big enough to knock a person over as a rescue in the surf is pretty much not worth doing.
Or, it’s a hell of a lot less energy than exiting and slogging up onto the beach with a boat full of water, emptying and re-launching.
I really never had a decent “bomb-proof” roll because I rarely went into conditions where it was essential. Then I started playing more in the surf and at my age dragging my ass and boat on the beach is about 100X more effort than taking a pause, and rolling up.
The moment for me happened after two wet exits and re-launching. “come on Lee, take it easy and roll”. So I did, next time I got dumped I paused for two seconds then rolled up. One effort left my heart at max effort for a minute, the other was no different than paddling. If I was paddling easy around the waves, I popped up relaxed. If I was paddling hard I popped up breathing hard but was still paddling.
Dragging my ass and boat back on the beach and relaunching would exhaust me after a few times.
Seadart, If directed at me I think you and I share similar beliefs. We are surf kayakers. My response was directed at the other guy who’s all pissed off. FWIW
copy that, salty if you can’t roll the surfing will be a pretty mellow affair. If you go big you will get tossed and not rolling just sux. Wet exits and consequent eventual re-entries are just painful in the surf zone.
Then again if somebody’s idea of surf is a whopping 2’ swell then probably rolling is not that essential.
Myself, I am still perfecting a decent roll in the surf… but until then I can’t push as hard as I would like to.
because I am curious I am not going to bash you for not rolling, and from your statement above it appears you can roll.
“But I was doing a roll in my old WW boat, probably before you were born. - I just am not interested in rolling.”
I don’t know, it just seems to me that rolling a kayak would save a bit of time, especially surfing, ESPECIALLY if you could already roll a kayak.
My first few jaunts in the surf I rolled and swam. One time I went over and thought ‘I don’t want to go through the trouble of rolling’ so I swam. It was a much bigger pain in the ass for me to swim and self rescue than roll.