I am curious. For those who have paddled both of these boats…how would you compare them?
Many thanks…
Bob
I am interested also thanks
Thanks Bob, I’m interested also. I have an Andromeda and really love it save one aspect IMO causes me to switch boats. To me, its strengths are that is is quite roomy for a tall person such as myself, 6’3" yet is it a narrow beam 20.5 boat. I find it works very well in rough water and following seas, although bc it tracks so well without a rudder, it can broach if corrections are not made early on. I find it rolls very well. Taller paddlers usually find any boat more touchy due to higer center of gravity, but I find that if one does not place a pad under ones posterior or even lowers ones legs in the boat during rough, choppy, beam seas, etc, it becomes quite stable.
OK, my major beef with the boat is its 14.5 ft waterline. I have no illusions of being a racer at this point in my life, but, when wanting to stay with a group at over 4 to 4.5 knots, the boat suffers dramatically. The numbers bear this out when looking at the seakayaker review. The promotional literature calls it a pocket rocket. Well only true in that it does accelerate quickly to catch a wave, but for its narrowness, the short waterline is very limiting.
Lastly, I find that it does not turn all that easily or quickly for a boat with that short a waterline, perhaps because it hull shape resists this. For me it is not so good a choice for rock gardens.
Looking forward to folks with experience in both to correct any misguided conclusions I have come to and to give their perspective on both.
I’ve never paddled the Andromeda
BUT I do love my Sirius 
Wouldn’t give it up for the world. Thought maybe I would switch to the NDK Greenander PRO, but after paddling, I just solidified my committment to the Sirius. Haven’t found a sea condition it didn’t love.
Me too…
I have never paddled an Andromeda…and purchased a Sirius HF in the Fall. I really like the Sirius…and am curious as to how the two designs differ in terms of performance given Derick Hutchinson’s fingerprint on both boats…
Bob
I stumbled over some impressions
– Last Updated: Jan-20-05 6:28 PM EST –
doing Google Groups searching many months ago while researching boats. The Andromeda seems to come in for particular criticism, being not very fast, yet not very stable, yet not very easy to turn. One post went so far as to speculate that CD considers it a "mistake." One guy who seems to think it's got some merit is the designer...he says it does in one of his books I have anyway. Perhaps it's just extra-specialized for certain conditions.
Mike
I paddle a Huthinson designed
Gulfstream and the only thing I don’t like about it is the lack of speed.
When it came out, I thought the Andromeda would be a faster version of the GS.
It’s not - they are totally different. The GS is extremely maneuvarable and the Andromeda likes to go straight.
Again, shorter water line does not let it keep up with other boats that are the same length. It’s really not much faster than my GS.