I think I remember one or two people here that own a Dagger Crossover or Perception Enduro hybrid boat.I was wondering,what is the primary and secondary stability of these boats?I have heard people say that the Crossover is’nt a very stable boat.But I never understood which they were speaking of.Could it be that neither is good?Can ya’ll give me some input on this?
Thanks,
Wayne
Crossover Stabililty
I own a Crossover. Not sure I understand why anyone would say that it’s unstable! This is a very stable (primary & secondary) kayak best suited for rivers.
At the 12.5 length it’s easy enough to pull through the flats and with the trihedral hull design it is fun boat to catch eddies and surf rapids. Rides the big wave trains without any problems. Not the kayak I take to the lake but if I’m running CII and above rivers I’m very happy with it.
The Enduro is the same mold.
Paddle Safe - Louis
Well…
I may have phrased the question a little off.It was just that when we would ask a dealer if they had a Crossover or Enduro in stock,there answer would be no.But then they would start to try to push a Blackwater or something else on us instead.The norm was,thr Crossover is’nt a very stable boat and that the Blackwater would fit the bill instead.I was just wondering was the stability just that bad.I guess it is just they were wanting to make a sale.
Thanks,
Wayne
It’s all relative.
An oil tanker is a lot more stable than a crossover, too. But would you really want to paddle one?
That’s my point…
exactly.Is it just too much for them to say,"no,we don’t have one in stock"and let it go.Or maby even,we can try to round one up for you to test paddle and compare with this other model that may work as well.At least that would give you more incintive to go back to them to do bussiness.
Thank you for the insight on the Crossover to the above poster.I don’t know anyone around here that owns either a Crossover or an Enduro so,a test paddle seems to be impossible for the time being.I hope you do enjoy your boat though.BTW,just how bad is the Crossover on the lake?
Thanks,
Wayne
I think the answer is, if you want to do
only whitewater, then the Crossover would rank rather low, and if you only want to do lakes, oceans, and flatwater rivers, the Crossover would rank rather low, but if you want one boat to do all these things, there are very few alternatives to consider. The Dagger Blackwaters are not nearly as good for whitewater as the Crossover.
Incidentally, there is one Crossover reviewer (on both paddler.net and boatertalk.com) who has said he could do all sections of the Gauley in his wife’s Crossover. I have e-mailed him and invited him to provide a demonstration. He is an expert paddler and could perhaps succeed, but I wonder whether he wants to try…
That would be something!
There is a couple more hybrid boats out there but,they are even harder to get a hold of than the Perception or the Dagger.Counting the two above there are @ four or five boats.My wife and I think that one of these are what she needs.She’s not planning on traveling ocean to ocean or Lake Supeirior or anything too extreme.And,to the best of my knowledge,she’s certainly not going to run every section of the Gauley like some say they can.Just something to do certain things like play in a classII river.Or paddle around a local lake and such.I just don’t think a Blackwater could do the things she wants.It’s just this stability question that kept coming up.I did’nt want her getting into something that was going to dump her everytime things got a little humpity.g2,let me know how the Gauley thing works out.Take care.
Wayne
Crossover
My son has a Crossover and I have paddled it many times. This is a stable kayak with good initial and very good secondary stability. I weighed 200 # and found it very stable.
We have used it in Class III water but that is certainly it’s upper limit (and I would be very careful and scout the rapids before proceeding). It is fine when travelling through rapids as it is fairly maneuverable. We have never dumped it when travelling.
It is not great if you attempt to play in rapids with the folks in the real WW play boats. But it does roll easy.
I think it really shines in class II water and also shines as a touring WW boat in the same type of water.
The one complaint I had was the back band which we replaced.
Peace