Okay, maybe I was wrong in saying I disagreed, in part, with Salty ;-)
I did want to note that the difference in drag among sea kayaks CAN be significant in some situations.
I'm not as powerful paddler as some I know. When in my Romany, there is no way I can keep up with Jed in his Romany nor Evan in his Explorer when they are cranking. My only hope is with my Aquanaut.
Even Jed has noted that when paddling for fitness with his friend in an Epic Endurance, he (Jed) has to use his Greenlander Pro to keep up.
Another piece of all of this is that the guy we met in his Epic Endurance 18 pretty much paddled straight down river and back up. Those of us in Brit boats also played bracing, sculling, and bumper boats.
Unless they plan on racing, I most often recommend a Romany or Explorer to most paddlers. They are both all round boats that do most things well.
While my Aquanaut is relatively fast for a Brit boat, my main love of the boat is its impeccable manners in rough seas. If I were truly into speed, I would get an Epic Endurance or Rapier.
And this winter I'm using my Inazone 232 for pool sessions...
2% A 2% gain in efficiency at 4 knots means that the paddler will gain two minutes on an hour. (Winters, John, The Shape of the Canoe, Second Edition, page 66)
Or Spike! But hey man, you gotta be precise about the wave! Water density, summer salt water, or winter, brackish, wind, angle of face … …, did the paddler eat before surfing, color of boat.
Just kidding. I’m gonna go wax my Brit boats, then rill the hulls.
Also, Spyder not Necky Spike licensed the design for awile to them, but it’s back with his own company which is currently called Watersmith. Spike will custom build Spyders for those who so desire, but he’s mass busy, so it may take some time. Email me directly and I can forward that info to Spike. Happy surfing.
Balancing Trade-offs… I agree with everything said here by all. If you are going to paddle at touring speeds then it does not really matter all that much what boat you choose.
If you want to paddle above 5 knotts though for fitness, training, racing, or just because you like to push yourself and go fast then your choice of boat matters.
If you want pure speed then an Epic,a QCC, surf ski etc. is the best choice, but there are trade-offs. In my opinion you lose manueverability, playfullness, etc…and you may end up stuck with having…a rudder!
I like to paddle fast for my own reasons and speed is important to me, but so are a lot of other characteristics like being connected with my boat, being able to carve smooth edged turns, rolling, sculling, etc. For these reasons I really like Brit boats…and there are some reasonably fast Brit boats out there. They may not be as fast as an Epic, but they will carve turns a lot better. It’s okay to want a fast boat and not choose an Epic or other speed-specific boat.
For me personally I want a boat that offers the right balance of characteristics that I desire, accepting the fact that there will be trade-offs. There is no perfect boat, but there may be the perfect boat for you.
There is no perfect boat… “There is no perfect boat, but there may be the perfect boat for you.”
Nicely put Matt.
A boat might best suit ones specific desires at a point in time. The balance of traits that is best is reliant on the desires/needs you have for the boat.
There are many many good boats out there. I believe feedback from paddlers helps narrow the field and demoing many boats helps focus ones wishes.
50 Knot Days Wow, you got a Romany going 50 knots? In context I assume you mean 50 nautical miles, but “knots” refer only to nautical-miles-per-hour – i.e. speed not distance.
This thread was a good read Thank you all. I also agree with you Salty. Under nearly all circumstances, the Romany will be fast enough. I own an Explorer and Epic Endurance and quite frankly, the only time I use the Endurance is when I’m training for a race or racing. As I do most of my paddling in the ocean, I really prefer the manners of my Explorer.
versus other sea kayaks, well… The boat takes about 46.5 minutes for a 4.9 mile course, versus about 55 minutes for my old Extreme. (With the same paddle). To me, that seems like a HUGE difference. Having more gray hair (and less hair than ever), it just seems practical to get the most efficient boat with some level of required stability. Why not just use the efficiency to get more miles done, and get beat up less?
Oh my So very sorry guys. I have routinely travelled distances of up to 50 nautical miles in a day in a Romany. So that’s 50 x 6076’, or 50 x 1.15 to get statute miles. Please accept my apologies. BTW, did that as part of long hauls, where I’d rather paddle than sit on a beach. Also, had noone to enlighten me about hull design either, or how slow my boat was. Anyone who disbelieves this is welcome to join me on a long day outing…as long as we don’t talk about kayaks.
tradeoff In my eft at blackburn the hips are free to rotate and 20 miles in 3hr and 20 minutes. Romany with very tight thigh braces would not allow rotation and now you are more of an arm paddler. A wide cockpit is faster becuase you can lower the source of the force to be more like a rower, Compare speed of walking on hands vs walking on feet. However in big wind the romany rules but was it a 50 mile downwind run or loop?
loaded and speed Epic is indeed no cargo hauler. designed primarily for how you are using it. a ski for those who don’t want a pure ski.
the CD Expedition is amonsgt the fastest if not THE fastest touring boat, which is made to carry HUGE loads. the idea boat for big long distance tours in all kinds of conditions. tender and corky though unless loaded, due to near perfectly round bottom.
