I suspect you are very much a detail oriented person, Celia. Which explains why you are attempting to extract details from my proposal concept. 
I knew someone who coached college* rowing. He had me get a taste of training at beginner level. All beginners start on a stationary, bargelike, flattish, wide training boat. It doesnāt flip and it doesnāt move. The student has to get the technique down cold before any refined balancing is tried.
Then the second stage is another very stable, wide boat that actually can be moved by rowing properly.
Only after the student has demonstrated proficiency at that level does he or she use a real rowing shell.
Equipment matters. But not as much as technique and fitness. Same for kayaking and bicycling.
- Another Ivy League college and famous rowing area.
ā¦so you didnāt demo the chosen surf ski, maybe not any surf skis.
I appreciate your concern, but donāt worry Iāll be fine. 
Iām not sure what youāre proposing. Single class racing is fairly common with sailboats and racing shells, but not kayaks or canoes that I am aware of. A number or colleges and high schools maintain a fleet of such identical boats for competitions. In a few maritime cities such as Annapolis and Newport, there may be sufficient wealthy people that get together with identical sailboats for weekday evening and weekend competitions, often as members of a yacht clubā¦
For the average person though, itās uncommon to see more that a couple of people at most with the exact same boat. Boats are usually classified by using a calculation often involving waterline length and beam. If there are enough people, they may further break it down by gender, age, experience, etc. This method more or less works, but is not perfect.
If kayak races were open class, then the people with surf skis would almost always win. Most races will often have an award for fastest boat overall.
1 Like
You know Iām retired. The brain just doesnāt want to put much thought into it. This weekend we are going with 17 other kayakers to do a couple of paddling days on the Suwannee River. Most will be in seakayaks. Some not so much. Our canoe club paddled the Santa Fe with a similar number of boats two weekends ago, but we were working on the farm.
Iām not going to be much impact to a boat manufacturer. I build my own boats or renovate used boats. I did buy some āmaroskisā from Turning Point. Iām getting ready to order hatches and seat for the next project, if the drawings EVER COME OUT, NS. I have a couple of docks to repair and a rowing shell to gel coat. So there is some timeā¦
We donāt do the ocean much (although we did do Schoodic Point) , but we have done some significant Lake Superior waves, Rend Lake waves, Lake Monroe wind, and waves . The wind and waves at Yellow Stone Lake were minimal but the steam vents were interesting. The biggest hazard at Red Rock Canyon on the Green River were power boats, but we were upriver from them. Weāve paddled All kind of places in our sea kayaks. They give us options. At lake Marian the guy at the ramp said we were going to die in the waves. The guy at Rend Lake couldnāt believe we paddled up to the ramp 3 miles into wind and wave that he struggled through in his power boat. The guy at Reel Foot Lake said the snakes were going to jump out of the trees onto us. ( no they didnāt) The guy in Atlanta traffic stopped his whole lane to ask us if we built those boats.
We all have our own interests. Most of us just go out and do what we find interesting in our area. Dead? no its just youāll have to find somebody else to do it.
2 Likes
I think I understand what you are asking in your last paragraph (correct me if Iām wrong) but you seem to be suggesting you would like to have a watercraft racing class that would be āstandardizedā, like what āstock carā and āstock bikeā racing were intended to be when they were first launched more than a century ago. The idea being to level the playing field so that every competitor was in the same craft with equal (and less high tech) specs, preferably affordable. Kind of like when Olympic kayak slalom racing required each paddler to be in the same 13ā long pointy fiberglass boat.
Ah, in a perfect world, that might be possible. But, in a world where competition is taken so seriously, that is not realistic. I can tell you, from having been involved for nearly a decade with a guy who was a build and pit mechanic for national motorsports and motorcycle track racers, there is no real āstockā in any competitive situation, UNLESS the race sponsors would be providing the vehicles (or watercrafts), which never happens. All the most successful racers covertly modify their own rides to give themselves an advantage, from adding concealed nitrous oxide injection to āstockā Superbike class cycles to changing the undercarriage geometry of supposed āstockā car models in ways that canāt be detected by the race authorities.
Since there is no āstandardā design among the scores of kayak and canoe manufacturers, it would be impossible to assure that every competitor in a race was paddling equivalent craft. Even requiring that each racer paddle the exact same size, make and model of boat would not truly even the field, since each personās metrics of optimal fit, in kayaks especially, is different. And with the explosion of new stronger and more lightweight materials available to enhance performance, technology has tended to turn any competitive racing event into a contest among the small cohort who can afford the sleekest vehicle.
Actually there is a āmuch cheaperā way to get started in any type of paddling: educate yourself as much as you can with research on the fit and function of a wide range of models that would suit you and then watch for good deals on used boats and be prepared to swiftly purchase them when they turn up.
1 Like
I am someone who has done some dabbling or know people who are serious in each of the disciplines you indicate. I have yet to figure out what your proposal really is because because there are no indications of practically how anyone would be responsible for creating the interest, settling the specs or financing the boats.
But there ARE races around, either surf skis where you may have a less fast hull due to what you could afford or sea kayak racing if those are still running with a mix of boats you could pick up used. You seem to want the field to be leveled for you rather than spending the time training and learning that others have put in. This is at the least impractical.
Ironically, the market seems to be moving that way. My first kayak was a Perception 9ā6" Swifty that cost $239. It served me well. Thatās all anybody needs. I set it up with rod holders and used it a few times before I realized that fish feared me, so I started exploring. Turns out I enjoyed it so much, I bought upgrades to go further and handle harsher conditions. I reached my limit. Iām happy, havenāt sold a single paddle or boat yet and donāt want any more. You can see a lot in a $239 boat. All you have to do is stay close to the shore. All you need is a $59 PFD and $69 paddle. Itās more important to size it right than spend more money on one.
The problem is when you want to go faster, further, in rougher weather or carry stuff. Do you want to try white water, or fish (you need to buy an expensive one, because fish can smell a cheap boat. By the time you specialize, you can keep trading up until you traded your last kid. Nobody needs a $5,000 boat, but if you want it, youāll save your lunch money until you can afford it. The high price keeps the riff-raff out of the sport, but I got the money somehow. Once you pay off your house, you can buy nice things.
The entry price is fairly low. Even chealer than biking (constant maintenance, guaranteed obsolecence, tires, shifters, brakes, chain rings . . .
When you buy that $239 boat that only weighs 40 lbs and it fits in the hatchback, stores against the wall.in the garage, easier than taking care of a horse by just wiping it down. You can go in to a restaurant afterwards to eat and not worry about locking it up. As long long as you can deal with people pointing an laughing. Just keep that money you saved in the bank and watch the dividends grow for your retirement. I donāt want the prices to drop too much, because everybody will have a Gucci boat but me.
1 Like
Can still have a high performing boat without breaking the bank. My most used kit over the past year has been a sleek 16ā skegged fiberglass touring kayak thatās comfortable, fast and seaworthy that I got for $300 and put $80 into repairs, which I use with an Astral PFD that was free at a gear swap. True, I invested over $300 in the two piece Greenland paddle I most use, but I also have a couple of pretty good Werner and Aquabound standard paddles I got free or for less than $30.
Not everyoneās paddling objectives are slow water river fishing.
Absolutely. My thought is that we can get what we need or get what we want. I wanted price, but caught the bug and wanted more. There is good value in it. I bought all new for primary boats, then used spares for guests. Theyāre always used for a guest.
LOL
I might name my boat Gucci, thanks 
I hope not - I just started. Bought a 20-year old plastic Capella and I am doing my best to learn the ropes.
Definitely agree with that. I know lots of flatwater paddlers who say they want to the transition to sea kayaking, but donāt seem to be willing to put in the time for training and step-up trips. For me it has been quite a transition from the rivers and lakes that I have been paddling for years. First couple of trips I just sat there getting comfortable in the swells - very different.
I am also very lucky to live in the āOcean Stateā - RI. First time out in real open water (for me outside of Narragansett Bay) was an real eye-opener. Never been in the Great Lakes, but the open ocean with its wind, waves, swells and currents is so much more complex than wind-blown lakes that I am used to paddling - no comparison.
The sport will always be a bunch of āold folksā. Weāve got the time to spend paddling. That is the same no mater what paddling discipline you talk about.
I like the name. Gucci boats are good. I wish I had one, but Iāve become too sentimentally attached to my barge.
1 Like
I fully agree. The open tidal water is dynamic. Its always thilling to paddle through the tide line in an estuary.
I want to go to the Skook and watch the standing wave paddlers!
1 Like
Uh, sorry, itās not quite like that. That is a bit out of my skill zone but amazing to watch, and we discuss whether to wear a PFD on a mild paddle close to shore. Over the years of paddling a kayak, Iāve never turned over in a sea kyak, except in white water.
1 Like
Itās a little dangerous because the Israelis can be trigger twitchy. Iād stay away from the halfway point.
That is cool. Surfing standing waves like that is something we do all the time in whitewater - maybe not that big, or in a long boat. In my sea kayak I find I am pretty comfortable in currents - skills from river paddling transfer over pretty easily. Iām a lot less comfortable surfing in (or paddling out) on breaking ocean waves. You use a stern rudder surfing for both, but they are very different.