QCC Advice for a Friend: 600 vs. 10X

Hello all,



Trying to assist a friend make a decision on a FSK, something she can tour in as well. She’s petite but very strong, and paddles a ski as well. I suggested the Epic 16(x), the QCC600, and the 10X came up as well. Left the Nemo off the short list purely for reasons of lightweight build for sometime loaded use. I’m thinking (based on my prior 700 ownership), the QCCs would be a fine choice along these lines.



Does anyone have any feedback on the 600 vs. the 10X? It’s tough to find 600s to demo; the 10X is a rare species indeed. Thanks in advance.



M

Suggest talking with the other parties

– Last Updated: Jan-25-09 1:15 PM EST –

with whom you had this previous discussion on a similar topic:
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=831861

Also try personal e-mail to JackL, as his wife, Nanci, was involved in the 10x design.

If memory serves, JackL may also have a 600x in the extended family fleet.

Personally, no experience with either boat.

MikeT

Nanci…
Jack and Nanci are in the Keys now and may see this thread. What I can speak to is that Nanci is small and can keep a better speed in the 10X than in her longer 600. So it just depends on your power.



BTW, I just had dinner with them…

Oops
Thanks for sifting through for that thread. Totally forgot that I responded about my EFT (no interest at the time in the 10X, but I’d like to see my friend make the right boat decision for her, especially in light of the fact they’re tough to find to demo).



M

600X vs 10X

– Last Updated: Jan-25-09 8:41 PM EST –

Will your friend be racing flatwater or open water races? How much is wind likely to be a factor? (I am asking this because the 600X will be more boat (added length will result in more freeboard) for a smaller paddler to handle in rough conditions).

I don't have data on this, but my guess is that if she can maintain or is aiming to maintain a pace at above 5 knots, and is paddling in calm conditions the 600X is a better choice. At speeds below 4.5 knots, there is likely little difference in the efficiency of the two hulls. And if paddling in rough conditions, the advantages of the longer hull are are at least partly negated by the greater freeboard.

I THINK…
I think they lowered the rear deck on the 10. The 600 rear deck is way high. WAY high. Unreasonably high.



Alright… all you 600 owners / lovers… have at me.

The cockpit is smaller on the 10X than
on the 600X also.

They did.
The 600 is .5" taller than the 700 at the back cockpit rim and is 1" taller than the 10.

Hmmm…
Likely she’s going to do mostly open water, as she’s one to test her skills in the chop and slop on her ski. 15’ sounds a little bit on the short side, but maybe I’m just using that figure as a yardstick based on accepted lengths for open water (16’and up). She handles her 19’ x 19" ski pretty well, so I’m guessing she won’t have much trouble with the freeboard aspect, but the horsepower required to drive the longer waterline might be more of an issue (along with the higher rear deck-doesn’t like being confined in a SINK).



Thanks to all tossing out advice, BTW.

Q10
My wife has the Q10 and I have the 700. Neither of us have paddled the 600 so I can’t answer your question exactly. I will say, she loves the Q10. She is 5’7" and 125. It is perfect for her. From talking to Jack, Nancy seems to like the Q10 also.


Q10x
I owned both a Q10x and Q600x. I am 124 lbs and 5’4". I found the Q10x to fit me better than the Q600x as far as feel goes. I didn’t see much difference in speed/effort for me personally but this is after I had paddled for a while and gotten stronger. If your friend is a strong paddler, she should do well with either but may be able to keep the Q10x up to a faster speed for longer than she could on the Q600x. That is how it was for me. The good thing is that QCC offers the money back guarantee within 30 days so if she does not like the one she orders she can return it for the other model.

I just quickly got on P net on Wifi
here at Pennekamp SP in the Florida Keys and saw this post.

We have my beat to hell 700 which I will never part with, a 600 and Nanci’s newer 10 (which she got the first of since she was in on the design). she would have liked it narrower, but at the time Phil said they would never sell if they were skinnier.

We use to do the Bogie and Bacall race here in Key Largo, and the year Nanci (who is 5’2 and 122 pounds) changed to her 10, she took a half an hour off her time from the previous year in similar conditions.

Not sure where your friend is located, but we will be back up in NC in the spring, and will be up and down the east coast from then on and she is welcome to try any of the boats out.

There is a a small guy here in Florida, that used to race a Epic 16, (he now races skis)and he could beat the crap out of a few QCC 700’s, (me for one) and Epic 18,s, so each paddler is different and your friend would be wise to try a lot before settling on any particular one that any of us advise.



O.T. - Grayhawk, who posted above makes the best “Painkillers” in the Keys !



Cheers,

jackL